Wealthy bloggers willing to work for free justify devaluation of that labor

Evidence

When our discussion shifted to the topic of blogger compensation, she said that the blogosphere was being reconfigured based upon social standing: “A lot of bloggers are very, very well to do and can buy the clothes themselves. … So, maybe brands don’t need to pay [them].” Rachel’s comment challenges the myth of social media meritocracy by suggesting that the current generation of blogging aspirants comes from a position of privilege. Yet it also provides a rationale for the systematic devaluation of blogger labor, a theme to which I return in the next chapter. Put simply, why would marketers compensate social media laborers when those who are well-off are willing and able to work for free? — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love, 305

Categorization

• SEED: Sharply links class privilege to free-labor rhetoric and underwrites the ch6 ‘devaluation of blogger labor’ theme.
• XREF: connects to: Ghostly women’s domestic labor frames analysis of digital economy work — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love:…, 69; Female bloggers are uniquely chastised for seeking compensation — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love:…, 453; Users freely did unpaid labor that increased Facebook’s own value — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 1011 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Users freely did unpaid labor that increased Facebook’s own value #corroborates (0.82) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 1011
• Social media participation constitutes unpaid labor from which platforms extract value #corroborates (0.80) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 505
• Networked audiences force users into unpaid labor to keep their brand image pure #corroborates (0.80) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 492
• Platforms extract free labor from users in exchange for recognition and perks #corroborates (0.78)
• Amateur web creators faced burnout because content production needs paid labor #contradicts (0.75) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 922
• Wages compensate time but not enthusiasm workers contribute freely #expands (0.75) — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism, 65