Sylvie Minda_ MIT 1020 Essay
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School
Western University *
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Course
1020
Subject
Communications
Date
Feb 20, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
7
Uploaded by CommodorePowerWhale41
I will explore the technology and services of Instacart; a US and Canada-based grocery delivery and
pick-up service, specifically the convenient feature of same-day delivery. Instacart operates as a
mobile app or website (Healthline), this works by Instacart working with stores around the
subjected area. Consumers can then navigate the app/website (Healthline) like isles in a grocery
store to select their items. You are connected to drivers, who will receive your list of the items
you selected, the drivers can communicate with you (Healthline) in case the store is out of stock
of a product. On the majority of orders placed via the Instacart app or website, same-day delivery
is available. The availability of the items and travel time to the store can vary the delivery time.
Furthermore, Looking at Instacart’s same day delivery features from Zuboff ’s instrumental
power and Mosco’s myth perspective (Mosco 2). As well as through the lenses of several class
concepts such as surveillance capitalism, big data, use/exchange value, and informatization,
lastly, I’ll analyze how myths can play a significant role in concealing and simplifying the
process of instrumental power. Instrumental power is knowing and directing behaviour to fulfill
specific results. In Zuboffs book "The Age of Surveillance Capitalism", she claims that
companies like Google and Facebook maintain a new form of power that she calls "instrumental
power” (Zuboff 6). It involves utilizing data and technology to monitor and manipulate
individuals' actions and decisions, often without their knowledge. Roland Barthes (Mosco 9)
defined myth as a type of speech that transforms chronological or cultural events into timeless,
genuine, and universal meanings (Mosco 10). In his view, myth operates as a way of coding or
conveying certain values, beliefs, and ideologies (Mosco 10) that are deeply embedded in a
society's collective consciousness.
The four class concepts I have chosen, are surveillance capitalism, big data, use/exchange value,
and informatization. Surveillance capitalism is a concept that was introduced and researched by
Shoshana Zuboff, she writes about it in a class reading from February 28 called “Zuboff on
Instrumentation Power and Surveillance Capitalism” (Zuboff). Zuboff argues that surveillance
capitalism poses significant risks to privacy, democracy, and human autonomy (Zuboff 2). The
main goal of surveillance capitalism is to monetize data (Zuboff 5) collected from individuals by
using it to make profitable predictions. When humans are using search engines, those search
engines will collect search data and create personalized ads and popups ads that relate to our
“interests”. This leads to the idea of Big data, which uses algorithms (Zuboff 2) and our activity
online to curate what we see online. Zuboff describes big data as being a massive amount of
digital information (Zuboff 3), generated by the user, through outlets such as search engines and
social media. Big data stems from the idea of surveillance capitalism, in that companies need our
data to grow and gain exposure, “what is needed for products and service improvement that
became critical to the fabrication of these prediction products and laid the basis for this new
work.” (Zuboff 2).
Throughout the course, we have looked at many different dialects and
applications of use and exchange value from the perspective of Mosco, Safiya Noble,
Williamson, Zuboff and Norton. In my analysis, I will focus on our first introduction to this
concept, from Judith Williamson's, in her reading called “Decoding advertisements”, from
November 15’s lecture. The definition of use value which Williamson follows refers to the
practical usefulness or utility of a product, and exchange value, is the monetary value of a
commodity in the marketplace (Williamson). Instacart’s same-day delivery conventions and how
the conpany advertise that as a pulling factor to use their service, perfectly depict how Judith
describes the use and exchange value of advertisements. The last concept I will be exploring is
Informatization coined by Hardt and Negri. According to Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, this
theory adopted the idea that society and the economy were constantly adopting new information
and communication technologies (Hardt and Negri 3). Such as new social media, apps, and
devices that carried new and “better” features. The fast growth of technologies has also had a
significant impact on society's operations, including those of education, communication, and
business. For example, Instacart has revolutionized the traditional grocery market by allowing
customers to order groceries online and have them delivered right to their homes within a few
hours. All these class concepts highlighted follow a similar theme and work together to showcase
how society is developing because of technological advances.
Surveillance capitalism uses personal data to personalize an individual's online experience and
can be used to predict human behaviour (Zuboff 3). Instacart, like almost all digital services,
collect users' data, browsing history, search habits, and purchasing habits, all with the goal to
optimize the user experience. Regarding Zuboffs theories, instrumental power is a critical
element of surveillance capitalism (Zuboff 4), which refers to the power that companies wield
when they manipulate data streams to attain their goals. In the case of Instacart their “goals” are
to optimize the user's experience, to ensure they will keep using the service, which results in
more profits for the company. Zuboffs Big Data theory is tight nit with surveillance capitalism,
although focuses more on how society is being affected (Reed) by data being collected and
curating what users see. I want to also look at how a user might be drawn into the idea of same-
day delivery by advertisements. Instacart like every other company is collecting data on their
customers. This data is then used to target customers with personalized pop-up ads. Regarding
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Instacart’s application to this theory, they are converting a myth of convenience (Mosco 10) with
same day delivery, having it advertised as a better way to grocery shop. This myth conceals the
fact that the company uses this data to gain instrumental power (Zuboff 4) over its users,
manipulating their shopping habits and targeting them with customized advertisements. When
analyzing how to implement Williamson's use/exchange value, I first identified what those
values were for my object. The use value is for customers looking for an easy and efficient way
to get their groceries, because of this value typically this service is marketed towards customers
who are busy or unable to go to a physical grocery store. The exchange value of Instacart's same-
day delivery service is closely tied to its use value. Customers pay a fee for the service, however,
If the service did not provide convenience and accessibility to customers, it would not be able to
generate the fees and revenue. Williamson's theory of use and exchange value (Williamson 12)
describes how markets work and how buyers and sellers interact. Marketing and advertisements
for Instacart emphasize the convenience and use of the value of the service. Data-driven
advertisements (Williamson 12) highlight the benefits of same-day delivery for customers who
cannot or do not wish to go to a physical store.
“Advertisements must take into account not only
the inherent qualities and attributes of the products they are trying to sell but also how they can
make those properties mean something to us”
(Williamson 11). According to the quote, effective
advertising emphasizes a product's intrinsic features as well as how those attributes might be
appreciated and understood by potential clients. This implies that the company, in the case of
Instacart's same-day delivery service, must not only highlight the convenience and accessibility
of the service but also demonstrate how these traits can be beneficial to customers. Lastly, the
informatization of productions by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri influences the ideology that
technologies are shaping social relations, power structures, and economic systems (Hardt and
Negri 285). The foundation of Instacart's same-day delivery service is the use of information and
communication technologies to link users with grocery stores and delivery drivers. To optimize
delivery routes, estimate the future, and match orders with available inventory, the company's
platform uses algorithms and data analysis. This makes the service a great example of how
technology may be applied to develop new kinds of utility and effectiveness (Hardt and Negri
287) in the marketplace. The idea of informatization also implies that same-day delivery from
Instacart is more than just a technological advancement; it is also a social and political
phenomenon. Questions about privacy, spying, and corporate power are raised by the company's
capacity to gather and analyze enormous amounts of data (Hardt and Negri 286) on consumer
activity and preferences. In Hardt and Negri's reading called “Postmodernization, or the
Informatization of Production”, when they state that “we increasingly think like computers"
( Hardt and Negri 287). I thought that was interesting because, it applies the thought that as
technology continues to advance, humans are adopting more machine-like ways of thinking and
processing information.
In conclusion, investigating Instacart's same-day delivery services through the lenses of class
concepts like surveillance capitalism, big data, use/exchange value, and informatization reveals
the intricate nature of power relations in the digital age. Zuboff and Mosco's perspectives on
instrumental power are examined. It is also necessary to examine the social and economic
conditions that support instrumental power because myths can conceal and oversimplify the
process of instrumental power. Recognizing the power dynamics at play and working to build a
more just and equitable society for all is crucial as we advance toward a more digital world.
References
Hardt , Michael, and Antonio Negri . “Lecture: The INFORMATION & SERVICE ECONOMY in the POSTMODERN MEDIA AGE.” POSTMODERNIZATION, OR THE INFORMATIZATION OF PRODUCTION. Readings from lecture, 31 Jan. 2023, London, Western University. Mosco, Vincent. “Lecture: THE SUBLIME (Ways of Representing Media) & POLITICAL ECONOMY (Ways of Analyzing Media).” Vincent Mosco’s selected readings. Vincent Mosco’s selected readings, 14 Feb. 2023, London, Western University. Reed, John. “Lecture: THE SURVEILLANCE AND PREDICTION ECONOMY PART II: BIG DATA.” Lecture material. Lecture material, 7 Mar. 2023, London, Western University. Williamson, Judith. “Lecture: Codes, Beliefs, Advertising & Identity.” Judith Williamson's Decoding Advertisements + Interpellation + Commodity Fetish+ Ideology. Readings from lecture, 15 Nov. 2023, London, Western University. Zuboff, Shoshana. “Lecture: THE SURVEILLANCE AND PREDICTION ECONOMY.” Zuboff on Instrumentation Power and Surveillance Capitalism. Readings from lecture, 28 Feb. 2023, London, Western University.
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