Psychology suggests people who browse social media but never post or comment aren’t passive — they’ve simply opted out of the performance while retaining access to the information, which is a more deliberate choice than most people who post every day have ever thought to make

The research read is very different. When Jenny Preece and colleagues surveyed hundreds of silent members about why they didn’t post, the top answers read nothing like apathy. Posting isn’t a behavior these platforms permit — it’s the behavior they manufacture, the path of least resistance paved, lit, and lined with rewards. The deliberate lurker isn’t refusing to participate in life. They ran the cost-benefit that the interface is specifically designed to prevent anyone from running: the feed’s information, minus the performance’s invoice.