å Sunday, October 4th, 2015

In Ross’ argument where he is focusing on the digital media’s ability to “extract cheaper and discounted work from users and participants,” we can quite clearly see, in  the examples of “crowdsourcing”, “white collar/no collar interns”, and “reality TV”, the relationship to his argument.  By exploring the concept of “crowdsourcing”, we see that many people are tasked with smaller components related to a project and/or problem.  The work derived from these smaller components, are then compiled by a managing entity that is the only one who knows all of the various parts, to create the final desired outcome and/or solution.  In many instances, if at all, the compensation to the many participants is minuscule at best.  In the now higher popularized “white collar/no collar internships”, many companies exploit the free labor of their interns.  In most cases, interns receive no to little financial compensation, while being tasked with producing professional quality work for their employers.  In many fields now, these internships have seem to become the way to build a professional resume, garner experience, increase social/professional connections, in hopes of being able to find a position in a chosen field; particularly, in a field like media.  Education alone is no longer enough to transition from the academic to the professional spheres.  The rise in the popularity and diversity of “reality TV” shows, is another example of this in the field of media.  Many of the related fields to the production of television and film projects, use interns instead of established professionals (who are usually unionized and are guaranteed much higher, industry standardized wages).  It has become a way of increasing the profit margin, while/by cutting production costs (and in most cases, production value).  Also, these same people are aware that there is little to no job security related to this kind of work, which contributes to concept of “precarious work” environments.  These production companies have no contractual obligation to the staffers and they can be replaced at any time (usually with/by someone willing to do the same work and/or more, for less).  These productions do not utilize professional actors or writers.  Instead, they use “regular” people and the writers engineer situations and/or circumstances that generally lead conflict to be exploited for ratings and sound bites for promotion.  It is clear in these examples that digital media has indeed been able to “extract cheaper and discounted work from users and participants.”

In this long winded and extensive chapter, Ross is addressing the various ways the internet and technology have affected the ways we work and earn money.  One example, that at least to me, eloquently summarizes this argument is the use and description of the term – “Precarious Work”.  This idea bespeaks of the situation many professional and non-professional people are finding themselves in.  For many, the traditional ways, means and fields of work have been systematically impacted by new technologies and how these technologies have changed the way people work; and thus, causing a lot of people to no longer be able to work in/or spend their entire work career employed by one life long employer.  This has lead a lot of people to have to seek many short-term, temporary, or even piece-meal types of employment situations now becoming more popular in the larger capitalistic work-force, to eek out an existence.  This type of  work situation has also encroached on what use to be considered leisure time.  People are finding themselves working longer hours, even requiring them to produce in their private time, in order to, meet the requirements and in some cases, quotas of production, for meager compensation.  Also, this term relates to and encompasses the notion that, there don’t seem to be many fields that still follow the traditional paths to employment.  It has become increasingly the responsibility of workers, to seek new and creative ways of distinguishing themselves, making themselves stand out and building notoriety, in order to find permanent employment in their chosen/desired fields.