[iDC] Re: A critique of sociable web media

[Trebor Scholz]

In Internet time I'm far behind, I know. Pat Kane argues, and I agree, that ads are often secondary to the social online experience. Let's just see the thing with all its
complexities. 

Pat quoted Virno: "Contemporary capitalist production mobilizes to its advantage all the attitudes characterizing our species, putting to work life as such." [1] That's it: leisure,
fun, and all that affective activity are commoditized to multiply the wealth of the very few on the backs of the very many. 

The paradox is that those who are getting used, get a lot out of it. It's like working a McJob while at the same time getting lots of dates, making friends, establishing some
micro-fame, and becoming creative. 

Or, take Benkler's argument that the act of becoming a speaker (on blogs) is an empowering experience, which may lead to political involvement in real life. At the same time
that this person is politicized, the corporate context-provider is getting richer of this very speech act. 

Most American teenagers could not care less about all this because for them capitalism is inevitable. Such thinking inside the box, in my opinion, does not make the core sites
of the sociable web (Google, Del.icio.us, Yahoo, eBay, LastFM, iTunes, Skype, Technorati) any less amoral. 

The exploitation of labor, mind you, is not transhistorical; it is exactly not some gene that we are born with. Capitalism is surely not a human inevitability. There is nothing
natural about it. [2]     

What would lead us to "communal unshackling"? First of all, there needs to be an awareness of the fact that we are being used. Currently, I do not see much protest or even
conflict in this regard. But that will change soon. Geographically spread communities will ask for 1) an appropriate share of the created monetary value of their creative labor, 2)
transparency of the rules of the game: Who owns the uploaded content? (Give us control over our content.) What exactly do you do with the data we provide in our profiles?,
and 3) support decentralization of giant context-providers. [3]  

Whether or not you are with me on this, will largely depend on your belief in the possibility of societal alternatives to this rotten system.

ts

[1] http://info.interactivist.net/article.pl?sid=06/01/17/2225239&mode=nested&tid=9
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhistorical
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Data

Howard Rheingold pointed me also to this post on Buzzmachine
http://www.buzzmachine.com/2005/10/26/who-owns-the-wisdom-of-the-crowd-the-crowd/