This article introduces the concept of predatory communities – communities engineered for value extraction within the platform economy. In contrast to conventional understandings of online communities as emergent social formations, we examine how individuals and organizations can exploit specific mechanisms to scaffold and facilitate community sentiments and commodification through predatory strategies. Grounded in a synthesis of sociological literature, internet studies, and platform scholarship, we define predatory communities and use three case studies involving social media influencers and finance-related platforms to illustrate the deployment of three predatory strategies: predatory inclusion, obfuscated brokerage relationships, and turning prey into predators through recruitment. The article explores the inherent contradictions between the affective dimensions of community membership and the economic imperatives driving predatory practices, analysing how individuals and organizations exploit platform infrastructures to construct and maintain predatory communities. We argue for a critical interrogation of the community concept, its related mechanisms, and the values and interests embedded within platformized communities.
Gregersen et al. (Fri,) studied this question.