IRRATIONAL TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ISSUE #2
Job scrolling, Meta on trial, and why Virginia Woolf wrote sci-fi
This is the second issue in my weekly roundup on what I’ve been reading, writing, designing, and thinking about. I’ve been thinking about what we consider sci-fi — and how expanding that definition can help us think about the world in a different way. I’ve been following the Meta trial closely — I don’t have the inclination to add to the commentary, but it has made me reflect on what we take for granted in this day and age. I’ve also been mulling over the state of the job market and how the embodied experiences of the modern job search are contributing to a widespread sense of digital fatigue.
I’ve never been comfortable paywalling my Substack — my longer essays will always be free — but a roundup like this feels like the right place to ask for a few quid. If you’re reading this, thank you. As the headline above should say, if you’re receiving this in your inbox, I’m always open to new work, so please check out my website or shoot me an email at lou@irrational-technology.studio. As I said, this is a new format, so (polite) feedback is welcome.
01 — The Infinite Job Scroll
Job application platforms are designed exactly like TikTok — but what does this actually do to you? LinkedIn, Indeed — they’ve all taken a design pattern intended for entertainment and applied it to job searching. When you’re on one of these platforms, you can’t point towards a moment where “I’m looking for a job” becomes “I’m browsing a feed.”
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It’s the same gesture, interface, and rhythm. You’re doing the same thing with your time and your body. Whilst you’re looking for work, you are simultaneously consuming content and generating engagement data. These are three categorically different activities, but the interface has made them into a single physical action, so you can’t really do one without the others.
This is where the idea of semiocapitalism comes in: it holds that capital no longer primarily extracts value from our physical labour but from our capacity to process signs. This might seem similar to the idea of Psychopolitics, but semiocapitalism hits on how these are physical activities with your body. This is where design awareness comes in — being aware of the physical actions you take and how your body understands them.