Digesting the (Not So) Free Lunches of Social Media

Abstract

It has become common wisdom that “there is no such thing as free lunch.” Social media shows us daily how true this observation remains until today. The ‘conventional’ business model of these platforms focuses on data exploitation, and, increasingly, ‘freemium’ models. While it is obviously worthwhile to explore objectionable business practices in e-commerce and on social media, as ‚freemium‘ models gain traction, this contribution suggests that the discourse on ‘dark patterns’ is somewhat sketchy and incomplete – and in need of more specificity.

Keywords

• Autonomy, Big Tech, Consumer Protection, Consumer Protection Law, Contract Law, dark patterns, freemium, Platform Governance, Platform Regulation, Platforms, Radical Reforms, Social Media