In 2010, I began researching the impact of social media on the boundary between work and personal life. This was six years after Facebook’s inception and six years before the introduction of Facebook Marketplace and the formalization of platform-based buying and selling. At the time, I couldn’t have foreseen the emergence of alternative food markets organizing on Facebook.
Since its origins as a platform for connecting college students, Facebook has undergone a dramatic transformation. It continuously vies for user attention against younger, competing social media platforms. Throughout its existence, Facebook has faced numerous scandals, often involving data misuse and a tenuous relationship with factual information. These issues, whether attributed to the platform itself or its users, highlight a fundamental challenge: the opaque nature of algorithmic control.
Facebook, like other social media platforms, relies on algorithms designed to maximize user engagement and time spent on the platform. While the precise mechanisms remain obscure to users, our online behavior—likes, comments, time spent on posts, and frequency of interaction—influences what we see. This raises a critical question: should we be concerned about these algorithms? Just as many people operate modern cars without understanding their internal workings, perhaps we don’t need to fully comprehend the algorithms shaping our social media experiences.
However, the analogy breaks down when considering the political and economic implications. These algorithms are not neutral. They are products of human design, reflecting the political convictions and agendas of their creators, who are often influenced by powerful stakeholders. This reality becomes particularly relevant when examining phenomena like REKO. If we take the car analogy one step further, we need to consider how we would feel if our autonomous car decided to take the turn towards the big supermarket chain instead of the independent food store where we wanted to go.
REKO, while not inherently anti-capitalist (as producers still need to profit), challenges the dominance of large corporations and supermarket chains. It supports small-scale, often ecological producers and relies heavily on Facebook groups for organization. This dependence, however, creates a precarious situation.
Facebook’s algorithm, optimized for high engagement and extended user time, struggles to accommodate the bi-weekly, low-interaction nature of REKO group activity. The typical user might only spend a few minutes placing orders, and group interactions are frequently deleted. This is not Facebook’s dream come true in terms of user engagement and time spent on platform. However, when taken together, it is difficult to deny the unique use case that group-based commerce has found in Facebook. One could argue that without Facebook, REKO would not have grown to its current scale.
When the concept of groups was introduced on Facebook in 2010, the idea was to organise according to interests, to filter the user’s experience on the platform. Groups weren’t meant to help organise alternative food markets. Yet, here we are, roughly 10 years since REKO started to utilise the platform originally designed to rate college students’ appearance. Furthermore, REKO faces challenges in attracting younger consumers, who are increasingly shifting away from Facebook.
The political pronouncements of Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, regarding EU regulations and U.S. elections, underscore the undemocratic nature of these platforms. Users have inadvertently surrendered personal and intimate data to what can be described as “mini-dictatorships.” While Zuckerberg has yet to directly address alternative uses of groups, his actions highlight the vulnerability of REKO’s reliance on a platform controlled by a single, politically active entity.
Therefore, the sustainability of REKO’s model, and similar initiatives, hinges on addressing the inherent risks of algorithmic control, platform dependence, and the need to engage a diversifying user base. REKO producers and consumers are aware of those challenges, but no one has a solution. Where do we go from here and what will the future bring for the uneasy relationship between REKO and Facebook?
by Steffi Siegert