User-Generated Content Makes Web the New Sweatshop | Newsweek Global Literacy

Posted By: emykinz01 @ 10/26/2008 3:59:54 PM

Comment: Children today are willing to do just about anything for their fifteen minute shoot at fame. Whether it mean standing in front of a camera for three hours or writing the information they have on the internet. People today are working for this fame and promoting a website for free as well as providing the website with the information necessary for their site to be up and running. In a way this is exactly like a sweat shop, although it doesn't force the children to do anything it sets up a willingness to. It makes viewers see the website as a way to fame. It may not pay anything to the children but the prospects are more than enough to do the websites bidding.
The children of today are being brainwashed into working for large corporations. They provide internet website owners with the entertainment that they need to bring subscribers, making the owner rich while most children keep putting up posts and coming out empty handed. Even though these children may realize that they are being taken advantage of they will not stop because the prospects are to alluring to those who seek fame. all in all, even if this were a modern day sweatshop it is nothing compared to what children in those days went through. Our society is more than willing to work for fame.

Posted By: jwilcox1701 @ 07/18/2008 4:36:52 PM

Comment: I contribute content for professional reasons. I might not be paid directly for my contributions, but if I can help others while helping my own career, it works out as a net gain for everyone.
http://poliTechnosis.kataire.com

Posted By: onepoker @ 07/05/2008 5:12:50 PM

Comment: N'Gai what are you thinking man! The internet can be seen as a resume for the talented who otherwise would have no audience. People create for the internet precisely what they want to make because they are not doing it for money they are doing it for ego.

As the technology guy you must of played many of the numerous mods created by freelancers that have greatly improved video games. Battlefield 1942 has some of the best and of course counterstrike was originally a user created mod.

The internet is the new Printing press not sweatshop and the distribution is Awsome!

Posted By: motown mike in oklahoma @ 07/05/2008 1:33:02 PM

Comment: Following the logic of this article, model railroaders should be in the transportation union, good ol??? boys pickin??? banjo on the front porch should be in a guild, and when I try to identify birds landing in my yard I???m entitled to research grants.

Posted By: motown mike in oklahoma @ 07/05/2008 1:32:04 PM

Comment: Following the logic of this article, model railroaders should be in the transportation union, good ol??? boys pickin??? banjo on the front porch should be in a guild, and when I try to identify birds landing in my yard I???m entitled to research grants.

Posted By: snarej @ 07/05/2008 12:06:32 PM

Comment: The theme of this article implies that the decentralized, voluntary production of entertainment media should be automatically and arbitrarily compensated with money by (by whom?), and that the absence of this makes the internet a "sweatshop". What a betrayal of economic ignorance.

Thanks RusselCole for pointing out the Marxist tripe underlying this ridiculous analysis. "Sweatshops"? Buddy, the labor theory of value was debunked over a century ago; amazing how bad ideas never die, while good ideas (like the spectacular freedom of the internet) need constant life support and defense against hostile forces. Ever consider that the "reward" or "compensation" that people get from doing stuff on the net "for free", can't be measured in monetary terms, and yet is profitable all the same?

Posted By: snarej @ 07/05/2008 12:06:11 PM

Comment: The theme of this article implies that the decentralized, voluntary production of entertainment media should be automatically and arbitrarily compensated with money by (by whom?), and that the absence of this makes the internet a "sweatshop". What a betrayal of economic ignorance.

Thanks RusselCole for pointing out the Marxist tripe underlying this ridiculous analysis. "Sweatshops"? Buddy, the labor theory of value was debunked over a century ago; amazing how bad ideas never die, while good ideas (like the spectacular freedom of the internet) need constant life support and defense against hostile forces. Ever consider that the "reward" or "compensation" that people get from doing stuff on the net "for free", can't be measured in monetary terms, and yet is profitable all the same?

Posted By: jane.simpson.wilson @ 07/01/2008 6:35:29 PM

Comment: Durp. Cubicles. Telecommuting, Blackberrys. I ran away as fast as I could.

Posted By: christopherv @ 06/30/2008 7:55:50 PM

Comment: I agree. And the zeitgeist of the internet suffers from all the altruism of those who work on it daily. I believe that people would be in a lot better spirits if they were given avenues with which to easily sell their own content. <a href="http://www.christophervandyck.com/o/node/84
">I wrote about that a couple weeks back, on my weblog.</a>

However, there is something to be said for the free exchange of information of all kinds. I think the future will be not in selling information in the form of text or audio or video, but in sharing your ideas and inspiration freely, and through this effort, finding others with whom you can work on profitable agendas.

Posted By: russellcole38 @ 06/29/2008 9:42:49 PM

Comment: this is a theme that has long been explored by neomarxists who took up the analysis from Marx's treatment of what he called intellectual labor. This is typically called cultural labor, which is integrated into multiple domains of private production, ranging from the fashion industry to website design. This form of labor, however, is rarely conceptualized as a form of productivity deserving compensation.
R Cole

Posted By: russellcole38 @ 06/29/2008 9:40:21 PM

Comment: Yes, this has been a theme explored by neomarxists for some time, who took up the topic from Marx's analysis of intellectual labor. Cultural production is used by a wide range of industries, from fashion to web design, and this class of labor is rarely conceptualized as a form of production that deserves compensation.
R Cole