WhatsApp and the Platformization in Brazil

a dense description of agents articulated in control practices mediated by the platform

Authors

  • Marcelo Aparecido de Faria Junior Universidade Federal do ABC. São Bernardo do Campo – SP, Brazil , Universidade Federal do ABC. São Bernardo do Campo – SP, Brasil , Universidade Federal do ABC. São Bernardo do Campo – SP, Brasil https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1916-6548 (unauthenticated)
  • Sergio Amadeu da Silveira Universidade Federal do ABC. São Bernardo do Campo – SP, Brazil , Universidade Federal do ABC. São Bernardo do Campo – SP, Brasil , Universidade Federal do ABC. São Bernardo do Campo – SP, Brasil https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1029-9133 (unauthenticated)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-58442023136pt

Keywords:

WhatsApp, Plataformization, Datafication, Algorithms, Dataísm

Abstract

This article aims to describe the structured control system based on the use of WhatsApp in Brazil, locating
the relationships between influence strategies of the public debate carried out by national agents and the
data market and algorithmic modulation strategies of Meta Plataforms Inc., company of technology that
owns the platform. Starting from the concept of plataformization and an analytical approach influenced
by the Actor-Network Theory, the WhatsApp is positioned in the analysis as a non-human sociotechnical
member of a relationships network that involves economic and political objectives of human actors,
leveling both in importance and understanding that the insertion of the platform profoundly changes
the practices and forms of social organization in the country. The goal is to understand the conjectural
conditions that make WhatsApp an important element in the lives of brazilian people and what is the
Meta’s market model role for the control techniques that emerge with this use.

Author Biographies

  • Marcelo Aparecido de Faria Junior, Universidade Federal do ABC. São Bernardo do Campo – SP, Brazil, Universidade Federal do ABC. São Bernardo do Campo – SP, Brasil, Universidade Federal do ABC. São Bernardo do Campo – SP, Brasil

    Has a bachelor’s degree in Image and Sound from the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) and a Master’s degree in the Graduate Program in Human and Social Sciences at the Federal University of ABC (UFABC); concentration area: Communication, Digital Culture, and Technology. A member of the Free Technologies Laboratory (LabLivre). Currently conducting research on the sociopolitical implications of digital and computational technologies with a focus on algorithmization, platformization, and cybermediation of life.

  • Sergio Amadeu da Silveira, Universidade Federal do ABC. São Bernardo do Campo – SP, Brazil, Universidade Federal do ABC. São Bernardo do Campo – SP, Brasil, Universidade Federal do ABC. São Bernardo do Campo – SP, Brasil

    Graduated in Social Sciences (1989), Master’s degree (2000), and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of São Paulo (2005). He is an associate professor at the Federal University of ABC (UFABC). He is a member of the Scientific Deliberative Committee of the Brazilian Association of Researchers in Cyberculture (ABCiber). He was part of the Internet Steering Committee in Brazil (2003-2005 and 2017-2020). He presided over the National Institute of Information Technology (2003-2005). His research focuses on the technopolitical implications of algorithmic systems; Artificial Intelligence and activism; the relationships between communication and technology; surveillance societies and privacy; collaborative practices on the Internet. He is the author of books such as ‘Tudo sobre tod@s: redes digitais, privacidade e venda de dados pessoais’ (Everything about everyone: digital networks, privacy, and the sale of personal data), ‘Exclusão Digital: a miséria na era da informação’ (Digital Exclusion: poverty in the information age), and ‘Software Livre: a luta pela Liberdade do conhecimento’ (Free Software: the struggle for knowledge freedom), among others. He is a researcher with CNPq/Research Productivity Level 2.

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Published

2023-12-15

Issue

Vol. 46 (2023)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Marcelo Aparecido de Faria Junior, Sergio Amadeu da Silveira

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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How to Cite

WhatsApp and the Platformization in Brazil: a dense description of agents articulated in control practices mediated by the platform. Intercom - Brazilian Journal of Communication Sciences, São Paulo, v. 46, p. e2023136, 2023. DOI: 10.1590/1809-58442023136pt. Disponível em: https://revistas.intercom.org.br/index.php/revistaintercom/article/view/4134. Acesso em: 21 jul. 2026.