Although, it may seem as those this has led to an inherently individual sense of self, and isolation from the social process which once accompanied the industrialized work force, this is not necessarily the case. Instead, these processes are not necessarily individual in their production of content. The best example of such may be regarded through the popular website of Wikipedia. Here is a user generated website which survives on the communal sharing of information between separate but co-operating communities. Here a site is able to build content and through unpaid labour, yet without coercing. Instead this unpaid labour is offered willingly. Such is due to the idea that the relationship between social and cultural processes and the Information age are must more complex than their previous modes of production.
In order to understand these concepts better, I have attached below a link to an article which not only summarizes some of the class readings regarding the relationship between culture and the information society.
http://www.ephemerajournal.org/contribution/user-generated-content-free-labour-and-cultural-industries
The concept of user-generated content. Your example of Wikipedia is a sheer example of such a phenomenon. It is amazing how information derived through bloggers, online journal or magazine creators 'publish' their messages and thoughts, only to truly have their thoughts and opinions be put up for sale as the content becomes generated for a post-original means of production. I wonder if this has become so normative for citizens within society, and also how might justice be tampered with and/or sought after and won??
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting approach to a topic that has been present in a large correlation of readings from the class, as well as class discussion. It is felt however that the presents of "the individual sense of self, and isolation from the social process which once accompanied the industrialized work force, and Instead processing s are not individual in their production of content" it controversially growing, the fact that we live in a informational-comodified society the future of a gathering correlation of labour for free may inevitably become a scarce phenomena, especially as the information and technological age continues to grow and become more technologically advanced. Overall, great post!
ReplyDeleteGreat approach to the concept of free labour. What’s interesting about this idea is that while it provides users with pleasure and in cases such as a blog allows individuals to express themselves creatively, user-generated content is often shamelessly exploited.
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to a compelling article that underlines this idea demonstrating that the 'experience' that is now required for almost any job is actually a disguise for the exploitation of free labour.
https://modelviewculture.com/pieces/the-predatory-search-and-exploitation-of-free-labor
What I found to be particularly compelling about this piece is the discussion on the news outlets Buzzfeed and Elite Daily. These platforms have become extremely popular and are constantly trending and being shared online by thousands of people. Here, journalists share recipes, celebrity news and politics to build their own profit, however, people fail to acknowledge how they are using the intellectual property of others and are often refraining from providing any credit. This sparks a question for Elisa and for my fellow classmates – Why have we as a society become so accepting of these practices? Has exploiting the work of other free labourers become the norm?