DPHU1007 Chap.5 Platform Power and Data Capitalism
Platform Power and Data Capitalism
Week 5 applies the political economy of the media to social platforms. The question is how ownership, profit and markets shape what media do, and the reading is Cohen's article on the political economy of Facebook. The course quotations sharpen the argument. Srnicek describes data as a raw material extracted from user activity, refined and used in many ways, like oil.
Zuboff defines surveillance capitalism as a new form of capitalism in which profits come from the unilateral surveillance and modification of human behaviour.
The chapter separates three related ideas so you can choose the one your case supports: political economy, data capitalism and surveillance capitalism.
It models a paragraph on an invented supermarket loyalty app and introduces Myers West's double bind, in which users are caught between privacy and the communities they would lose by opting out.
Myers West also notes uses such as dynamic pricing and lending decisions, which connect data practices to inequality.
Capitalism, defined in the course list as private ownership of assets and production for profit, is the structure of power most often at stake in this topic.
Where this shows up in assessment. The sample essay question asks how the contemporary media landscape supports or challenges the ability to contest structures of power.
Data capitalism offers a precise answer on the supporting side, since platforms that host activism also profit from it, and the double bind gives you a personal example that you can explain confidently in the viva.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Political economy of the media: how ownership, funding and profit shape media content and form.
- 02
Data capitalism: user activity treated as the natural source of a valuable raw material.
- 03
Surveillance capitalism: profit from monitoring and modifying behaviour without negotiation.
- 04
The double bind: privacy weighed against community when opting out has social costs.
- 05
Dynamic pricing and data-driven lending as examples of discriminatory uses of data.
- 06
Neoliberal discourse: presenting market choice as the natural answer to social questions.
- 07
Free services: when users pay nothing, their activity and attention become the product.
Worked example · free
Following the data in a free fitness app
- +1Political economy: the app is free, so ask who pays; revenue comes from premium subscriptions and from partners interested in health data.
- +1Data capitalism: daily activity becomes raw material that is extracted and refined into profiles.
- +1Surveillance capitalism: reminders and badges are designed to modify behaviour, which increases the data the app can collect and sell.
- +1Power: users cannot negotiate these terms, and leaving means losing running friends and records, the double bind Myers West describes.
Key terms
- Political economy
- The study of how ownership, markets and profit shape media institutions and texts.
- Data capitalism
- An economic system in which data extracted from user activity is a key source of profit.
- Surveillance capitalism
- Capitalism that profits from the unilateral surveillance and modification of behaviour.
- Double bind
- The trap of choosing between privacy and meaningful online community.
- Dynamic pricing
- Adjusting prices for different customers according to their anticipated behaviour.
Platform Power and Data Capitalism FAQ
What is the political economy of the media?
It is an approach that asks how ownership, funding and the pursuit of profit shape what media produce and how they work. Applied to platforms, it starts by asking who pays for a free service and what is sold in return.
How is surveillance capitalism different from data capitalism?
Both treat data as a source of profit. Zuboff's surveillance capitalism adds that firms modify behaviour as well as observe it, and that the process is unilateral, so users never negotiate how their actions are shaped.
What is the double bind in Myers West's argument?
When platforms become social infrastructure, users must choose between protecting their privacy and keeping their communities. Leaving has real costs, so continued participation is constrained rather than a free preference.
Which structure of power usually fits this topic?
Capitalism fits most cases, since the course defines it through private ownership and profit. Data practices can also reproduce other structures, for instance when lending decisions based on social networks disadvantage some groups.
What does Srnicek mean by comparing data to oil?
Srnicek argues that data are a raw material extracted from user activity, then refined and used in many ways. The more data a firm holds, the more uses it can find, which explains the drive to collect as much as possible.
Assessment move
Choose two platforms you use and answer four questions for each: who owns it, who pays, what data it collects and how it shapes behaviour. Read Cohen's article with those questions beside you and note one example of each. Copy the Srnicek, Zuboff and Myers West quotations into your concept sheet with page numbers where given.
Then draft a paragraph about your own experience of the double bind, because the essay question invites personal examples. Finish by explaining aloud the difference between data capitalism and surveillance capitalism in thirty seconds; the viva often tests exactly this kind of distinction.
