http://www.onlinefandom.com/archives/fan-labor-exploitation-or-empowerment/
I found this interesting paper that was presented in the last few days at the conference of The Association for Internet Researchers (isn't it cool that there is such a thing?). I haven't yet read through the whole thing, but it examines one of the fundamental "aspects" of what drives web 2.0 - user participation and communities. It's an interesting moral or ethical question, whether it's empowerment or exploitation, because after all, what do people get out of it?
Okay, I'm sort of feeling around the edges of some coherent thoughts here. For me the first analogy that pops to mind (gosh, I really have to find time to read this paper) is with clothing. In the case of clothing, we're actually taking our time, turning it into money, then using that money to pay for stuff to wear. Sure, so clothing is on the base of Maslow's hierarchy of needs so that's the very basic return, but the real question is what benefit do we derive from paying a premium (in time or in money) for something other than a burlap sack? Would you say that clothing companies are exploiting us for paying $100 for a pair of jeans? We derive meaning from fashion, from looking a certain way, from presenting the self. Do I sometimes feel exploited? There is the option to buy less expensive clothing, and that's actually a statement as well.
So, the actual paper is about Swedish indie music fans, and here's brief synopsis of the findings by one of the authors:
via Online Fandom
I found this interesting paper that was presented in the last few days at the conference of The Association for Internet Researchers (isn't it cool that there is such a thing?). I haven't yet read through the whole thing, but it examines one of the fundamental "aspects" of what drives web 2.0 - user participation and communities. It's an interesting moral or ethical question, whether it's empowerment or exploitation, because after all, what do people get out of it?
Okay, I'm sort of feeling around the edges of some coherent thoughts here. For me the first analogy that pops to mind (gosh, I really have to find time to read this paper) is with clothing. In the case of clothing, we're actually taking our time, turning it into money, then using that money to pay for stuff to wear. Sure, so clothing is on the base of Maslow's hierarchy of needs so that's the very basic return, but the real question is what benefit do we derive from paying a premium (in time or in money) for something other than a burlap sack? Would you say that clothing companies are exploiting us for paying $100 for a pair of jeans? We derive meaning from fashion, from looking a certain way, from presenting the self. Do I sometimes feel exploited? There is the option to buy less expensive clothing, and that's actually a statement as well.
So, the actual paper is about Swedish indie music fans, and here's brief synopsis of the findings by one of the authors:
There is a critique of Web 2.0 that argues it is based on free labor done by users from which others profit. We argue that this critique has some merit, but undervalues the rewards fans get from doing this kind of work. We identify the costs fan laborers pay and the rewards they receive. In the end, the tension between empowerment and exploitation is one that each fan laborer has to manage on his or her own. We identify three strategies through which they do this: distancing themselves from the scene as outsiders, viewing themselves as peers of those they 'work' for, and viewing their work as an investment in a future career.
via Online Fandom