Large social platforms function as aggregators of niche tracking services

Evidence

Lifestreaming involves two processes, tracking personal information and broadcasting it to an audience, and most social media sites are designed to facilitate both aspects. Large sites like Facebook and Twitter serve as aggregators for niche sites like Spotify (music), Runkeeper (fitness), and GoodReads (book reviews), encouraging users to share data. Last.fm, for instance, has a plug-in for iTunes and Spotify that logs every song played, creating charts of top tracks and artists that can be displayed on Facebook, Tumblr, or personal blogs. Smartphone apps further assist users in tracking while on the go, often sharing information automatically. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 542

Categorization

• XREF: This two-track aggregator dynamic anticipates the platform-ecosystem analysis of later media studies (e.g., van Dijck’s platform society). — connects to: Willing personal tracking normalizes tracking as infrastructure in less voluntary domains — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 415; Facebook’s Open Graph program captured user data across third-party platforms — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 114; Surveillance platforms extract behavioral data from users and sell predictions to advertisers — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 297 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Facebook’s Open Graph program captured user data across third-party platforms #exemplifies (0.85) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 114
• Surveillance platforms extract behavioral data from users and sell predictions to advertisers #qualifies (0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 297
• Willing personal tracking normalizes tracking as infrastructure in less voluntary domains #corroborates (0.75) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 415
• Pokémon Go’s location tracking aimed to compile one of the most detailed social graphs #exemplifies (0.75) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 996
• Surveillance platforms weaponize empathy and belonging to herd behavior commercially #expands (0.72) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1492
• Marketers pioneered tracking through cookies before social media platforms refined it #responds-to (0.70) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 114