In Search of the Lost Paycheck - Andrew Ross
This article brings up an interesting analogy between uncompensated work on the internet and slavery on a plantation. This is a tricky subject for online companies. What is a “free” worker really worth to them? Content creatures are worried that media sites are sliding down a slippery slope. The content that’s ‘trending’ is determined by algorithms and stamped out with a cookie-cutter, all while the creatures benefit less and less. The article calls these new forms of work a “word factory” which after the great recession is “the only game in town that pays.”
This is not a new issue in the slightest. For many centuries creatives have always fought between making the art that they enjoy, or falling to public demand in order to put food on the table. The dawn of the internet showed no sway to this issue. In fact, as stated in the article, the advancement of the internet has pushed for cheaper labor from the online users. This idea not only affects content creatures, but also falls on the average user of the internet. In recent years even the slightest activity has been monetized and sold off to an unknown third party.
Technology has made amazing advancements in the way that work is completed. Though there are so many positives to advancing technology, there are negative effects that come with it. Works can now be more productive in less time with the use of a computer or machinery. Employers have used this to push workers even harder, though not increasing their compensation. Employers have also moved to outsourcing jobs to different countries in an attempt to gain cheaper labor.
Companies have also looked into making money off of habitual use of the internet. Social media sites make a great profit in this area. These companies only need a small physical workforce in order to conduct their operations and this gives them a great advantage over brick-and-mortar companies, who have to distribute their wealth over a mass of employees. Social media companies make their profit off of user’s habits, interests, and content. I really enjoyed the quote by Andrew Lewis, “If you’re not paying for something, you’re not the customer, you’re the product being sold.”
A new form of work that has emerged doesn’t even seem like work at all. These new “No Collar” jobs can be easily completed when dispersed to a large number of free workers. This tactic of getting people to work outside of the workplace has eroded “the boundary between work and leisure time.” Also crowdsourcing has come into play for new ways to make a profit off of a collective of people. Having a large backing from interested consumers, an individual or small group can produce new products or services on a larger scale than would be possible on their own. The article goes on to say that newer technologies are not to blame as the cause for this lessening work, but it is a very strong enabler.
Internships have also suffered a blow from lessening wages. About half of all internships in the US are now unpaid or below the minimum wage. And these internships in turn have become less significant. Ross Perlin is cited saying the number of interns that go on to a paid position in their company is taking a dive. The article goes on to say that it is interesting that young people haven’t turned to the path of trade-jobs in light of the diminishing returns of a white/no collar internship. Statistics show that the majority of unpaid internships are held by women in the white/no collar sector. Could this ever-growing trend toward unpaid internships be off more professional fields of employment?
Next is a section talking about Marx and applying his theories to these downward trends of wage labor. Much of human labor, throughout history, has been unpaid. And much of people’s opinions on what is ‘fair’ can be determined by the conditions that they have lived through. People now seem to be less worried about compensation for their hard work than they are with other issues. Free labor being unfair, is of course relative, as the article compares working conditions to those in Asian sweatshops. Foxconn, a company mentioned in the text, is a very scary version of a sweatshop. During the time of distributing the iPad Foxconn had a series of suicides due to their harsh working conditions. (As a side note I remember watching a video investigating why Foxconn had to instal suicide nets on to their buildings. It was quite scary to think about.)
The article wraps up with a very thought-provoking paragraph on where all of this leaves workers. Everyone in their own right is being affected by this change to cheaper labor. This especially a strong issue for our generation as we get ready to enter the professional workforce. We are losing our assurance of a decent living and well-paying job in the future.
We Are Legion - Anonymous Documentary
This is a very good documentary on an interesting and thought-provoking group called Anonymous. Originating as a joke on the forum based website 4chan, this group evolved through the early 2000’s into a mis-mash of “hackivists” online and in the form of real world protests. Anonymous was a great contributing factor in the Egyptian revolution, and more recently in my research I’ve watched them be a great help to the people of Ukraine when their government was censoring the internet. There are very mixed opinions on Anonymous in the media. Much of this, in my opinion, can be attributed to sectors of the group branching off to conduct their own agenda. The whole movement may not agree with their ideas, but when the deed is done, even by those acting independently, the whole movement gets a bad light. After watching this video how do you feel about this movement?
Digital Labor - Professors Frank Pasquale and Trebor Scholz
I am a fan of videos more than I am of reading, so for my outside source I found this video produced by the Seton Hall Law School. In this interview the two professors discuss an array of topics related to the move toward digital labor in today’s society. They discuss how people’s habits online can be monetized and can even create surplus value. Privacy and security in the digital world is also tied into discussion along the way. Did their talk evoke any interesting ideas about the digital world we spent a majority of our time immersed in?