Patenting subjectivities:

An analysis from social network algorithms

Abstract

This article aims to question and understand how digital platforms, through their algorithms, act in the constitution and modulation of their users' behavior. Through the approach of subject, device and power, presented by Michel Foucault in "History of sexuality: the will to knowledge" and also on the concepts of government and governmentality brought in the book "Security, territory and population", we argue, in line with Antoinette Rouvroy and Thomas Berns, in the text "Algorithmic governmentality and prospects of emancipation: disparateness as a precondition for individuation through relationships?". that digital platforms present themselves as Foucauldian devices, instituting a new form of government, which is algorithmic, thus playing a role in the reconfiguration of our subjectivity. As empirical evidence from the research, we discuss some patents presented by Meta Inc./Facebook between 2018 and 2023.