Surveillance of social text drives people toward perfunctory, impersonal communication

Evidence

The enduring witness of the text was adapted as a medium through which managers attempted “to control and channel what had always been the most ephemeral aspects of subordinates’ behavior.” All the original excitement and promise melted into cynicism and anxiety as the scientists gradually withdrew from DIALOG, opting instead for a routine e-mail application and a preference for more-perfunctory, impersonal messages. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 844

Categorization

• XREF: Foreshadows chilling-effects findings today; also echoes the rationale later offered for direct behavioral-value markets in this book’s argument. — connects to: Facebook builds fabricated social realities that normalize surveillance as interaction. — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 348; Users author a public-facing text while surveillance capitalism captures a hidden second text — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 584; Electronic communication enduringly exposes once-ephemeral social exchange to scrutiny — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 842 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Perceived surveillance reliably reduces opportunism across everyday settings #complicates (0.82)
• Anonymity leaves some prosocial residue but surveillance reliably amplifies it #complicates (0.72)