Jack Climbing the social beanstalk...

Blog Prompt 3: In the social network you are analysing, do people use real money to gain virtual status or goods? Reciprocally,  do people trade social capital and online celebrity for real cash and benefits- how so?

In this contemporary age, its is interesting to observe how with the evolution of technology and its capabilities, so too have human social norms evolved. The shift from “gift” communities (Exchange, 2003) into our western capitalist culture is reflected in our use of new media- on which the principles of exchange and reciprocity are fundamental to the online experience.  

Openly representative of this phenomenon is the second largest social media platform- Instagram. With the infamous “algorithm” and the magical ability to create careers for pretty boys and girls, the app doesn’t shy away from the concept of a “hyperreal” (Kuttainen, 2019) exchange of money for virtual power. 

In an exchange of money for this simulated currency, users known as “influencers” create image after image in order to move their way up the pecking chain and gain the ever so precious currencies known as “followers” or “likes”. Sacrificing time, money and privacy- Instagram most effectively reinforces the importance of gaining likes and followers by appealing to the human ego’s desire to be “famous”. Just as a Kuttainen mentioned in her 2019 lecture on “Exchange”, this system of currency is only as valuable as the faith we put into it- and without the illusions and hype surrounding such a system, influencers are no more foolish than Jack trading his cow for magical beans.

Trading Social Media Status for money is like trading a cow for beans… (A Kids Book a Day, 2017)

However, we live in the illusion. And because of that, the faith we place into virtual status in turn pays real world dividends. In doing so this online cycle of exchange is completed, and here is where we the consumers are undoubtedly exploited without our knowledge. 

With the accumulated following, now influencers can utilize the watchful eyes of individuals and capitalize on this direct line of contact, exchanging this for real world cash.  These influencers and big wig corporations are the ones trading their money and power amongst one another in order to grasp the attention of otherwise unsuspecting users, and we have no say in the matter. We are the commodity- plugged in and waiting to consume. Whilst we can gain value from Instagram, we are ultimately being brainwashed- subject to the paid ads, inescapable promotions and the sell-out influencer’s endorsements. This equation is built in within the software and inculcated into both influencers and users, the common dollar is supposedly “fair exchange” for our watchful eyes.

We the consumer believe this system is as what Lewis describes in his article as  “mutually beneficial” , and it would appear that freely we are gifted with knowledge and content , but ultimately users lose out on the “mutual” benefits as value of our data as users is infinitely more so than that of the content we consume.

It is sad that through sites like Instagram, human interaction and normal sociality is now boiled down and commodified by corporations despite the “depersonalization of human relations” (Exchange, 2003) . Communication itself has become a transaction, and human interaction is mechanized…. But at least we can still scroll “Insta”….

References

-          A Kids Book A Day. (2019). Jack and the Beanstalk and the French Fries by Mark Teague. [online] Retrieved 21 September 2019, from: https://kidsbookaday.com/2017/08/08/jack-and-the-beanstalk-and-the-french-fries-by-mark-teague/

-          Exchange. (2003). In J. Lechte, Key contemporary concepts. London, UK: Sage UK. Retrieved 21 September from https://elibrary.jcu.edu.au/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/sageukcc/exchange/0?institutionId=429

-          Lewis, S. C. (2015). Reciprocity as a Key Concept for Social Media and Society. Social Media + Society. Retrieved 21 September 2019, from  https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305115580339

-       Kuttainen, V. (2019). Lecture 8: Exchange. Retrieved 21 September 2019, from BA1002: Our Space Networks, Narrative and the Making of Place.