Control through agency on algorithmic platforms

Abstract

This article of theoretical articulation, based on bibliographic research, focuses on the relation between control and agency on algorithmic platforms. Control involves the collection and analysis of data on user activities and interactions, aimed at discerning patterns and trends, which enables behaviors to be anticipated and guided, thus corresponding to an intensive and permanent surveillance apparatus. At the same time, each user has a certain level of agency, and by altering his course of action, can influence the way he is apprehended and therefore interpellated by the platform. From this combination of factors emerges a paradigmatic model of algorithmic governance, consisting of a flexible form of control, modulated according to the user’s agency, which is expressed in the variability of his input – in other words, a control through agency.

Keywords control; agency; surveillance; algorithmic governance; algorithmic platforms