Abstract:   

 

 

The pervasive influence of social media platforms has become an integral part of our everyday life. As is known, platforms are meticulously crafted to exploit psychological vulnerabilities, capitalising on insights coming from fields such as behavioral psychology and neuroscience.

 

As several authors have pointed out, one of their fundamental mechanisms is the implementation of variable rewards, a concept rooted in B.F. Skinner's operant conditioning: notifications, likes, shares, and comments are unpredictably dispensed, triggering a dopamine response in the brain that is similar to a reward system. The infinite scroll feature is strategically designed to create an endless loop, ensuring users remain immersed in an everlasting feed of content. Other features like streaks and time-sensitive content exploit what is commonly referred to as "fear of missing out", compelling users to constantly check their feeds, while ‘like' buttons and strategically timed notifications exploit the desire for instant gratification, nudging users to stay engaged for very long time. 

 

Social media interfaces are crafted to capture and retain users' attention, leveraging the limited cognitive resource as a valuable commodity in the attention economy, and this constant competition for users' attention has led to an environment overloaded with information and digital distractions.

 

There is more to it. If it is true that attention and perception are deeply intertwined, then our experiences and interpretations of the world are heavily influenced by what we choose to focus on. The continuous data collection and analysis allow platforms to refine their algorithms, making them able to tailor content delivery to individual preferences with ever-increasing precision: this is what Eli Pariser has called "filter bubble". This perpetuates a cycle wherein users are consistently presented with content that aligns with their interests, amplifying their reliance on the platform and reinforcing their modes of thinking, feeling, and desiring.

 

Adopting the perspective of the new materialist media studies, this contribution aims to shed further light upon the design strategies used in social media platforms and the extent to which they contribute to the contemporary "structure of feeling". 

 

Moreover, taking distance from those essentialist and moralist stances calling for a return to more "human" and "meaningful" means of interaction and communication, it aims to reflect upon the new modes of political subjectivation and engagement that can be made possible by such platforms and their material affordances.

 

 

Bio: 

 

 

Ramon Rispoli

 

Associate Professor of Design at the Department of Architecture of the University of Naples Federico II (Italy). His research primarily focuses on issues related to design in its political and aesthetic dimensions, with a perspective in line with Science and Technology Studies (STS), neomaterialism and posthumanism.