Alienation, Exploitation, and Social Media

This article is a critical examination of how capitalism has adapted to the explosion of websites devoted to user-generated content (commonly referred to as social media or Web 2.0). The author proceeds by reviewing how Marx applies the concepts of alienation and exploitation to his paradigmatic exa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American behavioral scientist (Beverly Hills) Vol. 56; no. 4; pp. 399 - 420
Main Author: Rey, P J
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.04.2012
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects:
Alienation
Capitalism
Case studies
Economic Factors
End users
Exploitation
Factories
Industrial capital
Internet
labor
Logic
Marx, Karl
Marxism
Mass Media
Media
Networking
Occupational psychology
Profitability
Profits
Social media
Social networks
Structural change
Studies
User generated content
Wages
Websites
exploitation
capitalism
prosumption
alienation
social medias
ISSN:0002-7642, 1552-3381, 1552-3381
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:This article is a critical examination of how capitalism has adapted to the explosion of websites devoted to user-generated content (commonly referred to as social media or Web 2.0). The author proceeds by reviewing how Marx applies the concepts of alienation and exploitation to his paradigmatic example (i.e., the factory); the author then attempts to extend the logic of both concepts to determine what they might reveal about the structural conditions of social media. A difference of prime importance between the two case studies is that factory work is wage labor coerced by economic necessity, whereas use of social networking sites is apparently voluntary and done freely. The author concludes by arguing that social media users are subject to levels of exploitation relatively consistent with industrial capitalism, whereas the structural conditions of the digital economy link profitability to a reduction in the intensity of alienation. Finally, he infers that social media is not economically beneficial to most users.
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ISSN:0002-7642
1552-3381
1552-3381
DOI:10.1177/0002764211429367