{"resolved":true,"match_type":"uuid","source_type":"original_book","book_id":"8a3d8546-8fbb-485e-b423-37bc08c3284a","title":"Media and New Capitalism in the Digital Age The Spirit of Networks","author":null,"edition":null,"publisher":null,"year":null,"isbn":"9781349379743","requested_by":"printed_page","book":{"source_type":"original_book","book_id":"8a3d8546-8fbb-485e-b423-37bc08c3284a","id":"8a3d8546-8fbb-485e-b423-37bc08c3284a","uuid":"8a3d8546-8fbb-485e-b423-37bc08c3284a","title":"Media and New Capitalism in the Digital Age The Spirit of Networks","normalized_title":"mediaandnewcapitalisminthedigitalagethespiritofnetworks","author":null,"edition":null,"publisher":null,"year":null,"isbn":"9781349379743","isbns":["9781349379743","9780230106062"],"parsed":true,"ai_readable":true,"document_type":"book","page_count":258,"navigation_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/book/8a3d8546-8fbb-485e-b423-37bc08c3284a","title_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/title/Media%20and%20New%20Capitalism%20in%20the%20Digital%20Age%20The%20Spirit%20of%20Networks","fixed_page_url_template":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/book/8a3d8546-8fbb-485e-b423-37bc08c3284a/page/{printed_page}","path_api_url_template":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/book/8a3d8546-8fbb-485e-b423-37bc08c3284a/page/{printed_page}","read_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/read/8a3d8546-8fbb-485e-b423-37bc08c3284a","page_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/books/8a3d8546-8fbb-485e-b423-37bc08c3284a/page","search_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/books/8a3d8546-8fbb-485e-b423-37bc08c3284a/search"},"page":{"printed_page":139,"pdf_page":142,"physical_index":142,"physical_index_base":0,"printed_page_status":"recognized","page_sha256":"61c2684d9720fe2974a6fcc945f25d67bc380be27317a83a8c7272dd233bf425"},"chapter":"Media and New Capitalism in the Digital Age","content":"The new source of production, the new engine of growth, according to this narrative, is the labor power that hitherto has been left unexploited, that is, has been left outside of the process of capital accumulation. It is comprised of “spare cycles” (i.e., spare time, time that is not yet harnessed for the productive process; time that—contrary to the famous maxim—is not money) and “talent” (i.e., skills, craftsmanship, and knowledge). The new source of production is also predicated on the technological ability to mobilize these “leftovers” of time and talent into the productive (i.e., profitable) process. The more this technological ability improves and the more it is possible to aggregate those forces of production, the more the labor force becomes, in Anderson’s words, “distributed.” Here the full meaning of democracy in Anderson’s statement is revealed. The more “fully” “the tools of production . . . are . . . democratized,” the more the “labor force” becomes “distributed.” Here, democratization is reframed as the decentralization of labor. Democracy, according to this statement, entails more individual autonomy and empowerment and the evaporation of centralized, societywide, and organized power.\n\nThe democratization of production tools creates another mechanism of wealth creation. The new engine of growth is based not only on the conscious mobilization of the spare time and talent of unpaid individuals, “There’s also gold in the casual Web droppings we all leave online,” Anderson explains (Anderson 2006b). Network technology is well adept in harnessing the noncreative facets of people power as well, such as customer reviews for example, and commodifying them: “Your click trail on Amazon is used to create better recommendations for those who follow. Your query on Google and the pages you find relevant give feedback that fine-tunes the search algorithms. The ads you click don’t just boost revenue for Google, they also tell it how much to charge the next advertiser. These companies have found ways to harness the wisdom of the crowd, extracting information that was there all along, just latent and lost” (Anderson 2006). Network technology is particularly adept at tapping into the “wisdom of the crowd”—that market-defined, tautologically self-affirming intellect—and redirecting it into the process of production.\n\nAnderson refers to the nonmonetary nature of network production from the point of view of labor. “Previous industrial ages,” Anderson says, “built on the backs of individuals, too, but in those days labor was just that: labor. Workers were paid for their time . . . Today’s peer-production machine runs in a mostly nonmonetary economy” (Anderson 2006). He also, as we have seen, stresses the monetary gains for capital from network production. This unequal exchange between “produsers” and companies using network production, are not seen as problematic in the digital discourse. On the contrary: network production signifies a new, healthier relationship between those two ends of the production pole: work and capital. Anderson says, “It’s a mistake to equate peer production with anti-capitalism. This isn’t amateurs versus professionals; it’s each benefiting the other. Companies aren’t just exploiting free labor; they’re also creating the tools that give voice to millions. And that rowdy rabble isn’t replacing the firm; it’s providing the energy that drives a new sort of company, one that understands that talent exists outside Hollywood, that credentials matter less than passion, and that each of us has knowledge that’s valuable to someone, somewhere” (Anderson 2006). Network production is seen in the digital discourse as a platform for a more reciprocal and satisfying relationship between capital and work—a relationship that is about substituting monetary gains and secure and stable careers with satisfaction and inclusion in the exciting prospects of the network.\n\nNetwork Production\n\n139","previous_page":138,"next_page":140}