Extract
[...] In a second part, we were able to question the bio-power of social network owner companies. It was possible to see that by the essence of the images conveyed on social networks, individuals had a greater tendency to compare themselves to the images they saw and, as a result, to desire the images conveyed. By this, social networks lead individuals to desire more idealized images and thus to conform to capitalist and liberal ideology. We saw that in accordance with Heidegger's idea of technological imprisonment, individuals are thus trapped between the consumption of idealized images influencing their perceptions of the world, free labor through the production of content, and submission to the ideals of capitalism, thus finding themselves imprisoned in a matrix leading to being a prisoner of these three dynamics. [...]
[...] This datafication of our behaviors allows different platforms, thanks to technology and algorithms, to send users content aimed at influencing their decisions (Cardon, 2025). In this second part, I wanted to question On understanding by liberal capitalism, an economy free based on the enterprise and individual initiative (Levesque, 1950). At a time when Big Tech companies are taking up more and more space in our lives, particularly through social networks. It is possible to question the way these platforms influence our vision of the world, in accordance with the notion of biopower developed in the previously studied article. [...]
[...] Furthermore, as French sociologist David Buxton writes, social networks lead the individual to be 'actively submitted'. Several elements demonstrate this submission: the unpaid work of what he calls the 'promosommateur', who produces content to use the application; the fact of subjugating one's 'brain' to an increasingly longer availability time in the face of proposed content; and the user's submission to the active consumer model (Buxton, 2016). Conclusion In summary, the article studied is interested in the growing weight of Big Tech actors, who, like the Compagnie des Indes, have characteristics comparable to those of a state, in terms of size, financial weight, and missions accomplished. [...]
[...] https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20617 Orain, O. ( October). Constructivism - HyperGeo. HyperGeo. https://hypergeo.eu/constructivisme/ Pariser, E. (2011).The filter bubble: What the Internet is hiding from you. UK, Penguin. Rowe F. (2009), Diversity of critical approaches in Information Systems: from sociology of domination to ethics of emancipation, Economies and Societies, series KC, n °1, 2081-2114 Rowe, F., & Ngwenyama, O. (2024). [...]
[...] Analysis of the biopower of Big Tech: link between increasing data acquisition, social media content consumption, and influence on social behavior A. Questioning the influence of Big Tech companies within Western societies Frantz Rowe analyzed in his work that if one considers technology as emancipatory, it also participates in a form of alienation for humans (Rowe, 2009). However, given the analysis ofAurélie Leclercq-Vandelannoitte andEmmanuel Bertin, it seems reasonable to question the growing powers of Big Tech companies and their increasing influence in our lives. [...]
