Importance of Surveillance in the Media and Digital Labor - Essay Example

Surveillance and labor Introduction Surveillance deals with the exploitation of communication and social networking to be able to locate the profitability and user-generated content created through network activities. As a result of productivity changes, the surveillance requires critical concept that will facilitate exploitation. Surveillance is understood to be the extraction of alienated, coerced, and unpaid labor. Monitoring is important in the commercial activities especially those that are carried online like digital labor. Most of the people in social networking are not able to carry out their labor activities effectively due to fear of security. The issue of insecurity in the social network regarding media content has raised tension to the owners of online business and the digital labor in general. In a situation where the society is an authoritarian, people in power may take advantage of information accessed illegally in social network to oppress and benefit individually. On the other hand, people in the liberal society may suffer when others take advantage of their media content through illegal access. For example, some of the people and media owners illegally open to other people’s or organizations’ account to steal their content. On the other hand, the media content and digital labor has been affected due to lack of freedom from the security sector. Therefore, critiques of surveillance are pushing for control measures and effective management that will control and manage consumer behavior. Therefore, this paper will discuss surveillance and the digital labor in participatory media and broadcast. Most of the Information communicated in the commercial sector is recorded, stored, and finally used to manipulate commercial online activities without the knowledge or consent of owners. Due to trade-off and other effects, the society has raised the concern of privacy in commercial entity and social life. As a result of content manipulation and insecurity of information shared through social networking, the productivity of digital labor has been affected negatively. For the issue of media content manipulation and illegal access that causes tension among the people and organizations to be addressed effectively, the relevant sector or body need to perform surveillance of online networking in order to reduce tension and enhance digital labor. The fact that media and digital labor are the most affected sector, i feel that constant surveillance of media content by the security agents will help to improve the performance of digital labor (Baym, Nancy and Robert Burnett, 2008). The society has perceived surveillance to be commercial colonization of the communicative lives. In addition, the introduction of social networks has increased threat of privacy among the online commercial activities leading to trade-off, which control over personal information. The big question from the audience and industries is who controls the media information infrastructure. Indeed the social networking users feel that the media owners are ineffectively managing the media technology. For example, the situation of strangers accessing private information of the organization or individual indicates irresponsibility. The power relation and use of media technology have led to the frustrating character of lack of privacy. Surveillance that was meant to control over informational resources, social, and economic activities have been pressed into narrower frame that threaten personal privacy. Though surveillance among the security sector is necessary and important, it needs to be regulated to avoid manipulation of online commercial activities. The objective of this essay is to question and discuss the control and power of surveillance. The online economy can be achieved through data mining and maintenance of privacy in digital era. In addition, implications of commercialization and privatization of communication resources within the digital era will be addressed (Ritzer, George and Nathan Jurgenson, 2010). Surveillance facilitates prediction of context, timing, message, and relevant factors that influences labor in the labor sector. The online activities or digital labor are the most implicated in surveillance because it provides the connections that enable users to exchange information. The online users mostly make effective connections and produce free content that enables the media capitalists make exchange-values using the user-generated content. Therefore, the media can collect more information about users through the interactive platforms. In addition, the media capitalists have full control of the users’ content by denying users to determine how to use their content. Commercial surveillance plays the central role in different forms of manipulation, control, and alienation that are associated with the economy of interactive (Boyle, James, 2003). Surveillance enables translation of knowledgeable consumption culture into productive activities through media networking. Surveillance needs to play the central role of exploitation of online accounts, for commercial development to be realized in the online economy. The digital labor in the online activities is where the knowledgeable cultural consumption is translated into industrious activities. The media, in this case, transforms users into supplies that are later sold in the market (Holmstrom, Nancy, 1997). The main concern is on productive activities that confine activities such as creation of user-generated content, chat room moderation, and fan labor where users voluntarily engage in information sharing that is later piggybacked on user activity. This kind of labor activities corresponds to immaterial labor. Surveillance plays the role of digital networks privatization and building the capacity that enable interactive media. The element of alienation in the digital networks brings in the need for surveillance for security and privatization to be realized in the interactive media. Some of the commercial entities such as Amazon.com, Facebook, Gmail, DoubleClick, Blogger, and YouTube avail themselves as digital labor device. The information shared in these entities can unify various activities or intentional content. The generated data and media activities should be monitored, aggregated, recorded, sorted, and stored. Surveillance mainly focuses on the interrogation of exploitation of generated content and the interactive participation (Lazzarato, Maurizio, 1996). The online exploitation is not a fair activity for the users because they are not paid for their social cooperation, enthusiasm, and know-how. Despite their contribution towards the marketable commodities, they pay “price premium” for marketing profession calls for their labor. For instance, most of the people or organizations benefits from the content or online activities that they did not work for. On the other hand, the participatory consumers are not able to realize the value they have added to the commodity through their participation. Therefore, surveillance of social networks provides some form of control towards alienation of user content in the information infrastructure. The popular accounts indicate that the digital economy tends to overlook the platform of political economy. These claims are normally ignored on the neutral infrastructure. The changes of services and internet depend on the media which controls the information infrastructure. On the other hand, the adjustment is made by the private owners to increase data collection and maximize revenues. The adjustments witnessed in the technological development have an impact in the economic models. The idea of privatizing the internet infrastructure is likely to be perceived as enclosure of digital commons such as generation of consumers and crucial productive resources. With this respect, the idea of surveillance becomes relevant in the online economy and other profit utilities that depend on online work. On the other hand, there is a need for the update of exploitation account to realize the economic value without apparent alienation. One of the approaches that can be used to allow autonomy and alienation to overlap is to consider redoubling of user activities on the commercial platform. For the online value to be maintained both in indirect payment of user-generated content such as advertising and direct payment, monitoring must be integrated into information infrastructures. With surveillance in place, every action in online activities can be monitored such as an online post, purchasing, or reflexive redoubling (Marx, Karl, 2009). Therefore, socializing and interaction in online forms can be doubled as the productive labor of immaterial (Miller, Daniel, 2011). Digital labor entails the online activities that facilitate economic productivity. For example, digital labor entails maintenance and building of social networks, generation of detailed information, and many other online activities that are able to contribute to economic development. The elements of control and power that are invoked by exploitation are relevant in the digital economy because it requires more work to update the interactive era. The process of making effective connection and producing content in later converted to exchange value by the capitalists to enhance online productivity. In other words, the digital labor involves online activities that use networked devices to achieve economic productivity. The surveillance assists in monitoring the operation of media capitalist with their online activities. Conclusion Surveillance is important in the media and digital labor especially those that are carried online because the media content can be affected due to lack of proper management and control. Therefore, control measures and effective management that will control and manage consumer behavior need to be established to ensure effectiveness, hence facilitating economic development. With surveillance in place, every action in online activities can be monitored such as an online post, purchasing, or reflexive redoubling. Surveillance has been initiated because the social networks have high increase in privacy threats among the commercial activities leading to trade-off, which control over personal information. The main focus and concern of surveillance is on productive activities that confines activities such as creation of user-generated content, chat room moderation, and fan labor. In social networking users voluntarily engages in information sharing that is later piggybacked on user activity. Therefore, surveillance facilitates the prevention of content manipulation and alienation, a factor that negatively affects digital labor. Reference Ritzer, George and Nathan Jurgenson. (2010). Production, Consumption, Prosumption: The nature of capitalism in the age of the digital ‘prosumer.’ Journal of Consumer Culture 10(1): 13–36. Baym, Nancy and Robert Burnett. (2008). Amateur experts: International fan labor in Swedish independent music. Paper Prepared for the Internet Research 9.0 conference, Copenhagen, Denmark. October, 2008. Boyle, James. 2003. The second enclosure movement and the construction of the public domain. Law and Contemporary Problems 66(33): 147-178. Comor, Edward. (2010). 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International Journal of Cultural Studies 12(5): 491–508. Read More