From “Visibility” to “Computability”: How Algorithms Transform User Labour into Symbolic Capital

Abstract

In the era of digital capitalism, social media platforms have transcended their role as communication tools to become mechanisms that convert user activity into commodified data and symbolic value. This paper investigates how recommendation algorithms and platform architectures translate user interactions into symbolic capital, and how this process reshapes user behavior and identity—producing novel forms of alienation. Employing a theoretical-synthetic approach that integrates Marx’s concept of alienation, Bourdieu’s notions of field, habitus and symbolic capital, and illustrative case analysis (notably TikTok algorithmic nichification and Weibo’s Super Topic mechanics), the study traces three linked processes: (1) the encoding of user actions into quantifiable digital metrics, (2) the institutionalization of those metrics as symbolic capital, and (3) the internalization of metrics-by-users as selfevaluation standards. The findings show that voluntary user labor is appropriated and monetized by platforms, while users come to equate personal worth with algorithmic indicators, thereby deepening both labor- and identityalienation. The paper concludes with the limits of the present study and directions for empirical and comparative follow-up research.