The political economy of privacy on facebook – C. Fuchs cmns 110
- Fuch, C. (2012). Television & New Media 13(2), 139-159. Sage Publishing. doi: 10.1177/1527476411415699
Beyond the Liberal Concept of Privacy
Informational privacy – moral Qs, how info is processed, who has access, how to get access
Economic privacy (under capitalism) – protects companies, the wealthy
Can be used for tax evasions, black markets, also hides wealth gaps increases inequality
Liberal privacy is focused on the individual and their freedoms, very individualistic
Is the divide between public and private sphere, supported by corporations (liberal-capitalist)
Socialist privacy is focused on protection of the exploited group from corporate surveillance
Privacy in different contexts are different
Information shared to friends (based on trust) vs employer, boss (based on economic power)
The Political Economy of Facebook
Alvin Toffler (1980) coined term “prosumer” (p143)
Consumer that produces and consumes at the same time, but is also a commodity
Enables corporations to reduce their costs by exploiting the prosumer who produces for free
Marx (1867): fb invests money to buy capital (tech) & labour (paid employees) capital + labour = outcome surplus value
Outcome = fb platform NOT commodity, made free for usage (unpaid “work”)
Surplus value = usage/user content, which is sold by fb to advertising for a higher price
Users receive nothing for their labour, infinitely exploited fb users are double objects of commodification first: corporate platform operators like fb whom sell to advertising second: result of selling to advertisement, is then exposed to targeted commodity/advertisements
Kucklin (2005) cointed term playbour (play + labour)
Based on the joining of work and play
Individuals are expected to have fun working, and be productive and work-like during play
Socialist Privacy Ideals and Social Networking
Participatory democracy – “direct participation of citizens in the regulation of the key institution of society, including the workspace and local community” (p148)
4 principles of participatory Democracy
Democracy is required in all realms of life in order to be just.
Development of man’s
