Paradoxical Empowerment and Exploitation: Virtual Ethnography on Internet Immaterial Labour in Macao

Abstract

Recently, the research topic of immaterial labour had become one of the most significant discussions about the changing nature of capitalism. But the previous studies mainly regard immaterial labour as a unidirectional process of capitalist exploitation in abstract sense, rather than a paradoxical dynamics of exploitation and empowerment in specific context. This article, therefore, investigates immaterial labour in digital capitalism, with a specific case study of the local practices of Internet immaterial labour in Macao, exploring the paradoxical dynamics of exploitation and empowerment through concrete case studies, rather than through abstractive and reductive theoretical discussion. This study has found that the alternative media created by Internet users’ immaterial labour helps them to resist the traditional mainstream media and the government; the affective community founded based on their immaterial labour gives them the collective sentiment of ‘family and belonging’; the individual feelings derived during their immaterial labour not only offer them positive personal feelings, but also a new way of ‘being-in-the-world’ in the age of social media.

Social media prosumption and online political participation: An examination of online communication processes

“…The other major line of thinking points to the empowering potential of prosumption (Bucher and Fieseler, 2017; Jin and Feenberg, 2015; Zhongxuan, 2018). From this standpoint, understanding of prosumption cannot be simply reduced to its economic functions.…”

“…From this standpoint, understanding of prosumption cannot be simply reduced to its economic functions. Although non-monetary, users do gain various benefits from prosumption, such as enjoyment, satisfaction, social connectedness, criticisms of established institutions, and participation in civic life (Bucher and Fieseler, 2017; Weeks et al, 2017; Zhongxuan, 2018). For example, Weeks et al (2017) found that prosumers who actively consumed news, expressed political opinions, and produced political content were more likely to persuade others to be politically active than non-prosumers.…”

Virtual Sphere: A Site to Negotiate the Image of Lengger Banyumas

“…Virtual ethnography is applied in exploring the internet and observing the users, in this case, is Instagram. The aim of elaborating ethnography and the internet is to investigate how the status of the internet is negotiated with the local context of its user (Hine in Zhongxuan, 2018). This shows the communication which is seen through the internet.…”

360 Video Trend on YouTube Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Other research papers have pinpointed the influence that other media have on the viewing of this type of content (Burkey, 2019; Zhongxuan, 2017). Cantero de Julián et al (2020), for example, analysed the production of 360 videos by Spanish TV channels, concluding that their presence in social networks is less than relevant.…”