By JOHN PEDRO MARQUES*

Breaking the digital validation cycle implies rethinking forms of recognition that do not depend on market logic

The crisis of global capitalism is not only manifested in economic and political reconfigurations, but also in the transformations of subjectivity and culture. In a context marked by the precariousness of work and the advancement of information and communication technologies, social networks emerge as central spaces for the search for recognition and belonging. However, this dynamic does not occur outside the contradictions of contemporary capitalism. On the contrary, the neoliberal logic that structures these platforms reinforces individualization, commodifies identity and deepens social inequalities.

In this essay, I investigate how social networks not only modulate the perception of recognition, but also become a central element in the organization of the economic and subjective life of the working class. If, on the one hand, they promise visibility and autonomy, on the other, they intensify forms of exploitation and alienation, reinforcing the dependence on algorithmic metrics for the construction of identity and employability itself.

Between the promise of recognition and new forms of precariousness, networks become arenas of dispute, where both the reproduction of neoliberal logic and forms of resistance and contestation meet. As a guiding thread, I highlight an excerpt from the synopsis of the comic book “The great void”, by French author Léa Murawiec, which presents a world in which people disappear when they are forgotten – or rather, when they lose social recognition.

“In this world, if people no longer think of you, you die, simple as that. To think of someone is to give them presence. In this colossal city, the horizon is blocked by thousands of names, and all the beggars ask for is a second of attention. Surviving for some, becoming Immortal for others – it is Presence that makes this city go round. Manel would love to turn his back on all this; but there, beyond the skyscrapers, there is only the great void, from which no one has ever returned.”

In Léa Murawiec's comic book, an individual's existence depends directly on the attention they receive from others. If no one else thinks about you, you disappear. The premise, although fantastic, illustrates a deeply human anguish, that is, the need to be recognized. Belonging to a group, validating oneself in oneself and being validated by others are central processes in the construction of identity.

The search for belonging is not an isolated desire, but a structural need. From birth, we are inserted into environments that shape our perception of who we are and what our place in the world is. Freudian psychoanalysis teaches us that the first great mirror of identity is the gaze of the other – initially, the mother or caregiver. It is through this gaze that the child begins to understand his or her own existence. Later, this process extends to society, where groups and institutions take on this role of mirror.

In the comic, we follow Manel Naher, a young woman whose existence is threatened when she discovers that another person with the same name – a famous singer – is monopolizing public attention. Since everyone associates “Manel Naher” with celebrity, the protagonist begins to disappear. This premise resonates with Axel Honneth’s idea about the struggle for recognition: a subject’s identity is constructed through social interaction, and the denial of this recognition is equivalent to the annulment of their symbolic existence.

The search for recognition is a fundamental concern of human existence, and can be analyzed from different perspectives. In capitalist society, for example, consumption emerges as one of the most accessible forms of social validation. It is not just about ostentation or commodity fetishism in the Marxist sense, but a mechanism by which individuals affirm their presence and belonging in a world where being seen is essential.

Axel Honneth, in developing his theory of recognition, shows how this need manifests itself on different levels. On an emotional level, we seek recognition in love and friendship. On a legal level, we want to be treated as subjects with rights. On a social level, we long for respect and appreciation for our contributions. The absence of any of these recognitions can generate anguish and conflict, as it calls into question our sense of belonging.

Philosopher Charles Taylor delves deeper into this issue when discussing the “politics of recognition.” For him, identity is not constructed solely internally; it is shaped by interactions with others. When a group or individual is systematically ignored or devalued, their own identity can be weakened. This explains the centrality of social movements that demand visibility and respect.

The need for validation, however, is not limited to major social struggles. In everyday life, every post on social media, every choice of clothing, every word spoken in public carries an attempt – conscious or not – to assert one’s place in the world. The digital age has intensified this dynamic, making recognition a scarce commodity and intensifying the anguish of invisibility.

The search for belonging and validation finds a new field of dispute on social media. The desire to be recognized is not a new phenomenon, but its mediation by algorithms and engagement metrics profoundly alters the ways in which it manifests itself. However, this dynamic cannot be understood in isolation. It is embedded in a broader historical and economic context, marked by the advance of neoliberalism, the fragmentation of community ties, and the imposition of an individualizing and competitive logic that redefines contemporary subjectivity. The relationship between belonging, social media, and mental illness cannot be dissociated from the material structures that sustain capitalist society.

The impact of capitalism on mental health has been widely debated by thinkers and critics of contemporary society. The commodification of life, a central feature of this system, transforms all spheres of existence into consumable and measurable goods. This includes not only work, but also subjectivity, sociability and identity itself.

Byung-Chul Han, in The tired society, argues that the transition from disciplinary capitalism, described by Foucault, to performance capitalism imposed a new regime of subjective control. If before society was structured around discipline, surveillance and external repression, now domination is achieved through the internalization of demands for productivity, performance and continuous self-improvement.

The contemporary subject is no longer coerced by an external authority, but voluntarily exploits himself, becoming an entrepreneur of himself. The search for belonging on social networks is directly inserted in this process: the need for constant validation transforms one's own identity into a product to be sold and consumed in the digital market. Thus, alienation, a central concept in the Marxist tradition, takes on new forms in the digital age. If, in industrial capitalism, alienation manifested itself mainly in the separation between the worker and the product of his work, in contemporary capitalism, this dynamic deepens as subjectivity itself becomes a commodity.

Byung-Chul argues that we live under a regime of self-exploitation, where the neoliberal subject is not only the exploited, but also the agent of his own exploitation. This phenomenon is expressed in the incessant need for digital validation, in which the individual begins to perceive himself not as an autonomous being, but as a profile, a personal brand that needs to be constantly optimized to generate engagement.

This logic unfolds into a process of subjective alienation: individuals stop relating to others in an authentic way and begin to see themselves through the lens of digital recognition. The search for likes, shares and comments transforms sociability into a field of competition and comparison, deepening the feeling of inadequacy and emptying the experience of belonging.

Furthermore, this alienation is not restricted to the virtual environment, but reverberates in real life. offline. The constant need to perform and adapt to the visibility standards of social networks creates an internal fragmentation, in which individuals oscillate between the anxiety of being seen and the fear of public judgment. Paradoxically, the more we seek recognition within this structure, the more we distance ourselves from ourselves and from genuine forms of interpersonal connection. Belonging, instead of being a real bond, becomes a metric, measured in numbers that are never enough to fill the void created by this logic. Therefore, digital alienation is not just a side effect of the use of networks, but a structural mechanism of contemporary capitalism.

Mark Fisher, in Capitalist realism, reinforces this idea by arguing that neoliberalism has destroyed the belief in the possibility of alternatives to the current system. The result is a state of collective psychological exhaustion, where the exponential increase in mental disorders – depression, anxiety, panic syndrome – is not an anomaly, but a structural characteristic of late capitalism. Social networks, instead of offering a space of genuine belonging, intensify this process by subjecting social relations to a logic of performance and quantitative evaluation.

Neoliberalism not only imposes new forms of exploitation, but also dismantles the foundations of social solidarity. Neoliberal ideology is based on the destruction of collective forms of organization and the imposition of a logic of hyper-individualization. As David Harvey argues in A Brief History of Neoliberalism, the neoliberal project is not limited to economic reforms, but seeks to transform subjectivity itself, promoting a culture of extreme individualism and unbridled competition.

This fragmentation has direct consequences on the way people build their social ties. Traditional communities, collective living spaces and support networks are progressively being replaced by interactions mediated by digital platforms, which reduce sociability to superficial and ephemeral exchanges. If previously belonging was forged in concrete relationships and direct interactions, today it depends on visibility and engagement in networks.

The breakdown of community ties is not a side effect of neoliberalism, but one of its fundamental pillars. As Wendy Brown points out in In the ruins of neoliberalism, the destruction of the sense of collectivity weakens the capacity for political and social resistance, making individuals more vulnerable to exploitation. This isolation manifests itself in the increase in psychological disorders and the growing dependence on social networks as spaces for recognition and validation.

Another central aspect of neoliberalism is the individualization of the social body, that is, the transformation of collective issues into strictly individual responsibilities. Unemployment, job insecurity, the housing crisis and mental disorders are treated not as structural problems, but as individual failures. This logic, described by Pierre Dardot and Christian Laval in The new reason of the world, is based on the idea that each individual is solely responsible for their success or failure, completely disregarding the material conditions that determine these trajectories.

On social media, this individualization manifests itself in the demand for constant self-improvement and curation of one’s own image. Identity becomes an endless optimization project, where each individual must build and sell their own personal brand. This process generates a permanent feeling of inadequacy, as comparison with others is inevitable and validation is never definitive.

The result is an endless cycle of self-exploitation and frustration. The momentary validation provided by social media offers temporary relief, but never completely satisfies. The need for recognition becomes an addiction, reinforcing the logic of subjective precariousness. As Christian Dunker warns in Malaise, suffering and symptoms, this dynamic leads to a form of psychological suffering characterized by emotional exhaustion and a feeling of isolation, even in the midst of hyperconnectivity.

Therefore, if belonging is mediated by the logic of the market, competitiveness becomes a central aspect of contemporary sociability. Neoliberalism not only encourages competition, but makes it the organizing principle of social life. The search for recognition, previously based on relations of reciprocity and symbolic exchange, becomes a zero-sum game, where the rise of one necessarily implies the exclusion of another.

On social media, this logic manifests itself in the culture of performance and viralization. Success does not depend solely on merit, but on the ability to stand out in an environment saturated with stimuli. As Maurizio Lazzarato argues in Cognitive capitalism, attention becomes a scarce and disputed resource, creating a market where each individual must fight incessantly for visibility. This constant dispute generates an environment of hostility and resentment, where the other is seen not as an interaction partner, but as a competitor who threatens their relevance.

This process also affects social movements and identity struggles. While social networks offer a platform for political demands, they also tend to transform activism into a spectacle, where legitimacy depends on digital engagement. The result is the fragmentation of collective struggle, replaced by internal disputes for recognition and prestige. As Nancy Fraser warns in Fortunes of feminism, neoliberalism co-opted identity issues, emptying their transformative potential and reducing them to individual demands for representation.

Thus – returning to our comic – an individual’s existence depends directly on the gaze of others. If no one thinks of you, you disappear. This idea, which might have seemed absurd in other times, as we have seen, finds a disturbing resonance in the age of social networks, where visibility becomes a criterion of existence and recognition turns into a game of metrics, algorithms and filtered representations.

Belonging, once built on physical spaces and concrete relationships, becomes mediated by screens. Social networks such as Instagram, TikTok and Twitter (X) operate as arenas where individuals seek validation and recognition. Social interaction, once restricted to more limited circles, expands to a vast and abstract audience. The “other” that is recognized or ignored ceases to be a specific figure and becomes a diffuse set of followers, likes and shares.

If recognition was once a relational process, now it often becomes performative. Validation does not depend solely on a close social circle, but on an algorithm that decides who will be seen and who will remain invisible. Identity is shaped by what generates engagement. To be noticed, one must adapt to the demands of the platform, producing versions of oneself that maximize reach and approval.

This new form of seeking recognition creates a paradox. While social media offers visibility to historically silenced groups, it also creates new forms of exclusion and anxiety. The struggle for recognition takes place in a space that rewards hypervisibility but punishes dissent. What doesn’t go viral is often discarded. This translates into pressure for representation that is both authentic and palatable to the public. Social media encourages the creation of personal brands, transforming subjectivity into a product to be consumed.

Furthermore, the logic of gamification of interaction – where likes, shares and followers function as indicators of social value – intensifies the feeling of inadequacy. Belonging becomes fragile, conditioned by a constant flow of validation. The lack of engagement is equivalent to invisibility, oblivion, exclusion. As in the narrative of The great void, there is the fear of disappearing if no one is looking.

Let us return to Axel Honneth, whose theory of recognition is inspired by the dialectic of master and slave, present in phenomenology of the spirit Hegel's dialectic. According to this dialectic, the master seeks his identity through domination, while the slave, by submitting himself, develops his own consciousness and emancipates himself through work. Hegel argues that true recognition only occurs reciprocally: without this mutual recognition, the relationship remains unequal and conflicting.

However, this search for validation can become a trap. Asad Haider, in Identity Trap, argues that when recognition becomes an end in itself, it can lead to the fragmentation and coercion of fixed identities. If identity becomes defined exclusively by the gaze of the other, there is a risk of losing autonomy in the construction of one's own self.

Asad Haider argues that an overemphasis on fixed identities can fragment political movements and divert focus from structures of power and economic exploitation. In other words, when the struggle for recognition is carried out in an isolated and individualistic manner, it can be co-opted by institutions that reinforce inequalities rather than overcome them.

The central question, then, is how to balance the desire to belong with the need for genuine self-validation. After all, identity is built on the tension between the internal mirror and the external gaze. If no one can fully exist without the recognition of others, it is also true that no external validation will be enough if there is no internal sense of self-worth.

This criticism directly dialogues with Murawiec's comic. In The great void, identity is treated as a scarce commodity: only one Manel Naher can be remembered, while the other disappears. This scenario reflects the logic of individualistic competition, where recognition is not a collective process, but a privilege achieved by those who manage to monopolize attention.

However, the challenge lies in preventing this struggle from being restricted to individual validation, disregarding the structural relationships that perpetuate exclusion. Haider's critique reminds us that identity should not be a trap that isolates us, but a starting point for collective constructions.

Given this scenario, it is necessary to rethink the role of social networks in the construction of identity and belonging. Is it possible to use them as recognition tools without falling into the trap of empty validation? How can we create spaces that value existence beyond numbers?

Ultimately, the struggle for recognition is simultaneously the struggle for memory and permanence in history. After all, if being remembered means existing, ensuring the recognition of all identities also means ensuring that their stories are never lost. In this sense, the contemporary challenge is to find ways of belonging that do not imprison, but rather strengthen.

If digital capitalism hijacks belonging by transforming recognition into a commodity, it is necessary to investigate the forms of resistance that emerge against this logic. One of them is the creation of communities. offline, which seek to recover the sense of social connection outside of digital platforms. Cultural groups, neighborhood collectives and social movements play a fundamental role in reconfiguring belonging, as they offer spaces for exchange that do not depend on algorithmic mediation.

Nancy Fraser argues that the struggle for recognition cannot be separated from the struggle for redistribution, and these community experiences are often tied to concrete demands for rights and social justice. By reducing dependence on platforms, individuals can rebuild relationships based on real presence, rescuing the quality of human interaction.

These strategies demonstrate that alienation and precarious social relations are not inevitable. There are gaps in the system that allow for the reconstruction of genuine bonds and the redefinition of recognition. Beyond the logic of digital validation, resistance is embodied in the resumption of collective spaces where belonging is experienced in a concrete and supportive way.

Throughout history, different social groups have sought ways to assert their identity and gain visibility in societies structured by relations of domination. In the 19th century, the labor movement fought for the recognition of the working class as a political subject, demanding rights that went beyond the mere economic existence of workers. In the 20th century, feminist and anti-racist movements expanded this struggle, articulating recognition with demands for the redistribution of power and resources. Today, in the digital age, this dispute takes on new configurations, where visibility on social media becomes a battlefield for the affirmation of identities, but also a space for control and exploitation.

By historicizing this issue, we can understand that recognition is not an end in itself, but an instrument of social transformation. Therefore, it is essential to think of new forms of belonging that escape the logic of the commodification of identity. This involves strengthening collective spaces where recognition is not subordinated to the logic of the market, rescuing the experience of encounter as the basis for building social bonds.

Thus, the struggle for belonging and validation on social media is a reflection of the broader dynamics of neoliberal capitalism, which imposes a model of sociability based on hyper-individualization, the commodification of subjectivity, and unbridled competitiveness. The precariousness of social ties, mental illness, and the transformation of identity into a commodity are symptoms of a system that reduces human existence to a constant search for approval and performance.

In this scenario, the way forward involves rebuilding community ties and rejecting the logic of self-exploitation. Breaking the cycle of digital validation implies rethinking forms of recognition that do not depend on market logic and recovering spaces of belonging that value the human experience beyond numbers and algorithms. The transformation of society will not come from networks, but from the reconstruction of the material bases that sustain collective life. If existence is, in fact, a game between being seen and seeing oneself, perhaps the way forward lies in expanding the mirrors and diversifying the perspectives – ensuring that no one disappears into the Great Void.

*John Pedro Marques is a graduate in Social Sciences at UFRJ.

References

BROWN, Wendy. In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise of Antidemocratic Politics in the West. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019.

DARDOT, Pierre; LAVAL, Christian. The new reason of the world: essay on neoliberal society. Sao Paulo: Boitempo, 2016.

DUNKER, Christian. Malaise, suffering and symptom: a psychopathology of Brazil between walls. Sao Paulo: Boitempo, 2015.

FISHER, Mark. Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? New York: Routledge, 2020.

FRASER, Nancy. Fortunes of feminism: from state-managed capitalism to neoliberal crisis. London: Verse Books, 2013.

HAN, Byung-Chul. The tired society. Petrópolis: Voices, 2017.

HAIDER, Asad. Mistaken identity: race and class in the age of Trump. London: Verse Books, 2018.

HARVEY, David. A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Sao Paulo: Boitempo, 2008.

HONNETH, Axel. Struggle for recognition: the moral grammar of social conflicts. Sao Paulo: Ed. 34, 2003.

LAZZARATO, Maurizio. Cognitive capitalism: knowledge, culture and value in the era of the post-Fordist economy. Lisbon: Pedago Editions, 2001.

MURAWIEC, Lea. The Great Void. New York: Routledge, 2022.

TAYLOR, Charles. Multiculturalism and the politics of recognition. Rio de Janeiro: Record, 1998.

the earth is round there is thanks to our readers and supporters.
Help us keep this idea going.
CONTRIBUTE