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The internet is BF Skinner’s world, and we’re rats hooked on each other’s reactions.
Writing in The London Review of Books, sociologist William Davies considers the “reaction economy:”
The Instagrammer on holiday learns how to increase follower engagement by monitoring the reactions that their images receive; the delivery company keeps track of its logistics (and surveils its drivers) on the basis of the customer feedback it receives; the financial analyst scours their Bloomberg terminal for the all-important price movement. The most important thing about feedback isn’t whether it’s positive or negative, but that you get it in the first place, and sustaining a constant feedback loop requires constant vigilance and work.
William Davies · The Reaction Economy · LRB 2 March 2023
[London Review of Books]
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