In the first chapter of Gina Neff's Venture Labor titled "The Social Risks of the Dot-Com Era," Neff discusses the dot-com era and how its accompanying characteristics brought about many shifts that impacted the way in which people perceive the concept of economic risk. The dot-com boom occurred in the mid-90s, in which the growth within the internet industry through dotcom companies gave rise to stock markets. It was during the dot-com era that the concept of risk became romanticized into an ideal of being exciting and interesting, drawing people to work for dotcom companies and startups. As the internet industry grew and more people began to access it, people were able to take part in business discourse, which normalized the concept of economic risk, as it was talked about as inevitable, necessary, and something that should be embraced. Furthermore, the rise of flexible work practises which fostered autonomy, as well as the lack of job security, increased people's desire to take more risks. As such, Neff explains that social forces and media naturalized economic risk in the workforce. The dot-com bust occurred in the early 2000s, where stock prices tumbled and many people lost their jobs.
Since the dot-com era happened while we were all very young, I would like to hear any thoughts about what you think about the concept of risk, since we have for the most part been exposed to social constructs that portray risk as "normal." Personally, I have always viewed it as something that is necessary, especially in such a high-paced, competitive business industry and workforce where innovation and creativity is what will set companies apart from competitors and employees toward job advancement. This just illustrates Neff's argument that social processes have made economic risks a lot more downplayed.
It is interesting relating this to the next era of Web 2.0. Risk is a big factor as people are encouraged to take risk. We can relate this back to the documentary on Silicon Valley in which economic risk was essential to progress. As time progressed into the Web 2.0 era, risk was less thought of per say, and more just go for it. The loss was minimal compared to that of the past and thus many people through the internet can take a risk to try and create a paycheque.
ReplyDeleteHow do you think the concept of Risk has changed from the early dot-com era to that of Web 2.0.? By such I mean why would you say there is more risk associated with online practices today? To answer such a question I would look at how the role of the Internet has shifted in our day to day life. Today the Internet holds an integral part of every day life. An individual's actions on the Web or in the virtual sphere can have very real consequences to their day to day reality. Although the Internet seems of offer endless possibilities, it seems that it is becoming increasingly important to remember that what we post in the virtual can have concrete consequences
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