[iDC] Re: A critique of sociable web media

[Trebor Scholz]

Hi Rita,

With the Italian autonomist Paolo Virno, labor no longer happens solely when an object is produced. 
In that sense it is immaterial. Labor takes on the form of a virtuosic performance with the laborer taking 
on the role of a speaker. I find helpful to think of this speech situation as labor.   

Best,
Trebor
=========
Trebor Scholz
http://collectivate.net





>Trebor,
>I have been enjoying this thread, and I also enjoyed your 
>provocative 
>essay. One query: you say that "Labor today, is a “casualized” 
>and often 
>distributed immaterial activity." (You quote Michael Hardt on the 
>same.) 
>Isn't it the product rather that is immaterial? That is, what’s 
>immaterial about immaterial labor is the product not the labor.
>Just a thought -
>Rita
>
>---------------------------------------
>Rita Raley
>Dept of English
>UC Santa Barbara
>Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3170
>raley.english.ucsb.edu
>
>> Our discussion about affective labor and the sociable web came 
>up again at a recent panel at The New School. Afterwards there 
>were quite a few
>> fascinating responses to the arguments across the blogosphere 
>to which I responded at: 
>>
>> 
>http://www.collectivate.net/display/ShowJournal?moduleId=
>223903&currentPage=3
>>
>> I summed up my ideas in a willfully provocative essay for a new 
>issue of the journal Re-Public. (The issue also features essays by 
>Geert Lovink, McKenzie
>> Wark and Michel Bauwens.) 
>> http://www.re-public.gr/en/?p=138
>>   
>> What is a fair exchange in the context of the highest traffic 
>sites of the sociable web? Yes, we get much out of many sites to 
>which we contribute. We can
>> "egocast," build friendships, develop thousands of weak ties, 
>learn, date, and simply enjoy hanging out with friends on this 
>disembodied platform. 
>>
>> It is hard, however, not think of utilization when NewsCorp 
>spent $583m on MySpace, which is now estimated to head 
>toward a market value of $15billion
>> (over the next 3 years). A definite value is created and that 
>surplus value is not shared in a fair way. 
>>
>> The community, which indeed undoubtedly benefits, is 
>monetized. People cannot simply leave if they don't like being 
>used because their friends are all on
>> that site. You can't post a video to a small video-sharing site if 
>online fame is what you are after. Perhaps the days of 
>"Friendster-mobility" are over. Here,
>> the networked publics left in large numbers. The choice that 
>participants have is limited; they are in a social lock-down of 
>sorts. This lack of true
>> alternatives may have well been the reason that 700.000 users 
>of the Facebook recently protested when the unpopular RSS 
>feature was introduced.
>>
>> On the before mentioned panel, both, danah boyd and Ethan 
>Zuckerman brought up the tremendous costs for NewsCorp that 
>are associated with
>> technically supporting all that sociality on MySpace. Ethan also 
>pointed out that it may take big business to facilitate large scale 
>networked social life. 
>>
>> In the end, what really matters is not only that people become 
>aware of the fact that they are being used on these giant sites. It 
>is important to be clear
>> about the ownership of content and it is also crucial to know 
>the privacy rules of the platforms that we are using. 
>>
>> What is most important, however, is the ability to be 
>independent, which means that I have a way of leaving-- taking 
>with me what I invested (the
>> content-- the blog entries, the photos, the videos...). For me, 
>much of the ethics of the sociable web is related to the ability to 
>call it quits.
>>
>> -Trebor
>>
>> PS: 
>> Some of these topics were also picked up in Sweden:
>> 
>http://www.whomakesandownsyourwork.org/mw/index.php?title=
>Main_Page
>>
>> New subscribers-- you can read our list archive of this debate 
>at:
>> 
>http://mailman.thing.net/pipermail/idc/2007-April/thread.html
>>
>>
>>
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