Algorithmically Constructed Identities: Networked Digital Technologies, Dynamic Behavioral Big Data Collection, and Automated Decision-Making.

• Author: Bratu, Sofia

1. Introduction

   Algorithms shape social realities and structure without one-sidedly influencing user behavior. (Cotter, 2019) Algorithms, search engines, and databases specifically determine individuals' ordinary communicative actions, making them think, internalize, and perform along the configurations of their specific ways of behavioral interaction. (Andersen, 2018) The personal data of social media users are progressively monitored, classified, and monetized. Algorithmic insights are gained from massive volumes of data that activate digital networks. (Livingstone, 2019)

2. Conceptual Framework and Literature Review

   Algorithms discompose user action in determining what individuals get to see and do by purposefully computing their data. Technologies' structural features can influence and hinder human action. (Courtois and Timmermans, 2018) Internet abilities and political efficacy alter user involvement with algorithms. (Min, 2019) Algorithmic intervention typically does not disorganize conventional usage patterns. (Nelson and Taneja, 2018) Social media algorithms further the mechanism of individualization (Blacker, 2018; Burwell et al., 2018; Enderstein, 2017; Katz, 2018; Lazaroiu, 2018a, b; Nica et al., 2014; Popescu Ljungholm, 2018a, b; Roberts and Marchais, 2018) and preserve direct connections between self-portraits and embodied subjects. (Mann, 2019)

3. Methodology and Empirical Analysis

   Building my argument by drawing on data collected from Pew Research Center, I performed analyses and made estimates regarding % of Facebook users who say they think users have no/a little/a lot of control over the content that appears in their newsfeed, % of social media users who say it is not at all acceptable/not very acceptable/somewhat acceptable/very acceptable for social media sites to use data about them and their online activities to recommend events in their area/recommend someone they might want to know/show them ads for products and services/show them messages from political campaigns, and % of U.S. adults who say the content on social media does (not) provide an accurate picture of how society feels about important issues. The structural equation modeling technique was used to test the research model.

4. Results and Discussion

   Platforms are prevailing infrastructural and business patterns to derive, inspect, and monitor massive volumes of data. (Gangneux and Docherty, 2018) Technological, data-driven, and interactive infrastructures progressively affect and establish individuals' views of their ordinary life and social reality. (Andersen, 2018) Social media depends on users spending a lot of time and effort to derive benefit from and create content, while such voluntary activities generate value that is usually...