In Trebor Scholz' article, "What the MySpace generation should know about working for free," the argument is made that what we do on SNS sites like MySpace, messaging, meeting people, writing blogs, etc. is all part of "immaterial labor" that has taken over the internet.
From the perspective of Wanda, the filling out of surveys on MySpace may well count as labor. On the other hand, she’ll get something out of spending time on MySpace as well. No doubt! People feel the pleasure of creation, they gain friendships, share their life experience, archive their memories, they are getting jobs, find dates and contribute to the greater good.
Now, when most people hear the word "labor", they think working in the field or working a real job. Of course, we don't make money from using SNS. Instead, as stated in class today, we get something else.
As Scholz says, SNS becomes the product itself. Companies such as MySpace are sold to big media conglomerates, such as News Corp, which is flat out amazing. Even after the dot.com economic bubble that inflated and burst, people like Rupert Murdoch are willing to roll the dice again on what some may argue to be another world wide fad. The question is, why?
The fact that one person lives of another’s labor is natural to them. Just consider the social context that allows a company to emerge that is build on the idea of advertisements created by the people who watch them. You create and give away for free (or for a sum that is not equivalent to the value that you generate), the advertisement that is aimed at yourself. Such companies do in fact exist and they are thriving.
It's an awfully big risk to take for these companies. For all we know SNS may be as good as dead in five years. In any case, this entire system of people laboring to make these companies viable in a bidding market adds up to one simple model for Scholz:
The labor of the very very many creates massive wealth for the very few
Do I have a problem with this? Absolutely not. It's capitalism, and nobody is getting ripped off here. There are other things besides money that one can get in return for their labor on these SNS sites. For me, it's the pleasure of being a part of a revolutionary time in our culture. A time where through websites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, we can express ourselves in ways never before seen or heard of.
That's the value I get out of my labor, the ability to tell my kids and grandkids that I was a part of this technological revolution. The personalized ads aren't bad either though...
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