Networked audiences force users into unpaid labor to keep their brand image pure

Evidence

Social media technologies allow people to self-consciously construct images of themselves—the young executive, lauded entrepreneur, or glamorous television host. But the collaborative, networked audience of social media requires people to engage in unpaid labor to keep their brand image “pure.” As Bautista noted, “People are in marketing here, whether they like it or not.” — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 492

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s labor/attention theme from One Square Inch of Silence and to the broader ‘free labor’ critique in digital media studies. — connects to: Brands profit by monetizing user-generated word-of-mouth influence. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 253; Social media participation constitutes unpaid labor from which platforms extract value — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 505; Voluntary user content creation constitutes unpaid labor enriching platform owners — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, 338 (+14 more)

Broader Connections

• Social media participation constitutes unpaid labor from which platforms extract value #expands (0.92) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 505
• Voluntary user content creation constitutes unpaid labor enriching platform owners #corroborates (0.85) — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism, 338
• Building an attention-grabbing Instagram feed required unpaid laborious audience-engagement work #exemplifies (0.85) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 1047
• Digital capitalism profits from unpaid pleasurable user activity. #corroborates (0.82) — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 197
• Users freely did unpaid labor that increased Facebook’s own value #corroborates (0.80) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 1011
• Self-branding shifts economic risk onto workers while demanding constant unpaid labor #expands (0.80) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 524
• Audience exploitation arises from users becoming commodities, not from literal work #qualifies (0.78) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 327
• The networked audience differs from broadcast audiences in enabling active participation #responds-to (0.75) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 593