Capitalism and the Ideologies of the Social

Using the notion of communicative capitalism (Jodi Dean) as a springboard, this chapter explores the potential of considering a ‘fourth fantasy’ specific to the gamified environments of social media, that of the fantasy of equivalence and of conversion whereby expressed in the prevailing myth that all the labour involved in the accumulation of online social capital through the ‘like economy’ can somehow be leveraged for profitable gain elsewhere. This belief is manifested by the wide range of available services that promise to boost social media metrics, declaring whilst assuming that these are key to success. The appeal of the economic relation of online social capital is further enabled by dubious services that ‘game’ the system to increase the ‘score.’ The integration of notification systems links users to experiences of gratification as they continue to pursue a program of accumulation - all of which requires time and effort, both resources that ultimately benefit the social media platform.