René Girard's mimetic theory reveals why artificial scarcity proves so effective at generating desire and maintaining control. Digital platforms exploit fundamental human tendencies toward imitation, creating unprecedented scales of rivalry through:
Triangular desire structures where we desire what others desire, with platforms positioning themselves as the mediator distributing scarce goods - whether likes, matches, or gig economy jobs. Social media transforms everyone into potential models and rivals simultaneously, eliminating traditional mediating structures that once limited mimetic contagion.
Manufactured scarcity in digital economies through limited drops, timed exclusivity, and artificial constraints on infinitely reproducible goods. The gig economy exemplifies this through systematic insecurity - median hourly pay of $5.12 after expenses, constant deactivation threats, and algorithmic opacity that keeps workers competing for artificially limited opportunities.1
Narcissistic capture through personal branding requirements that transform identity into marketable commodity.2 Neoliberal subjectivity demands constant self-optimization and risk-bearing, with platform metrics quantifying self-worth.3 This creates feedback loops where systemic failures register as personal inadequacies, preventing collective recognition of shared exploitation.
- https://www.hrw.org/report/2025/05/12/gig-trap/algorithmic-wage-and-labor-exploitation-platform-work-us; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11186-020-09408-y; https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/05/28/platform-economy-runs-inequality-and-sidesteps-labor-rights
- https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.14318/hau6.3.017
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0263276415590164