Digital profiling: the accumulation of personal data in the attention economy

Emerging from a critique of recent celebratory studies of new media, I incorporate a Deleuzian conceptualframework to analyse the economic motivations associated with the production and consumption of usergenerated material. In particular, I examine the Deleuzian concept of control societies within the context of howdigital media databases may be associated with the 're-territorialisation' of global capitalism. As computeralgorithms increasingly collate personal information, ubiquitous interactive technologies not only suggest,influence and promote, they may also begin to produce and sort all aspects of networked culture. This is not todeny the significance of potential forms of empowerment which are played out in participatory cultures, but itdoes draw attention to the complex nature of user agency. I suggest that digital interactivity is being increasinglyimplemented into the monetization strategies of user-generated platforms. It is highly lucrative for commercialinterests to integrate themselves within online communities in order to extract the financial benefits from thepractice of social participation, in addition to stimulating the individual user to interact closely with relevantgoods and services. I demonstrate a number of ways that the personal information transferred within thesenetworks may be utilised in an economic context, as well as exploring the technological infrastructure used to dos