You are being observed. The Social Media Conundrum.

image citation: http://blogs-images.forbes.com/benkerschberg/files/2011/09/Social-Media-Icons.png

Albrow (1990) as quoted by Rantanen in 2005 theorizes Globalization as the “world (being) incorporated into a single world society, global society” (Rantanen, T 2005). Social Media can be seen as a testament to this theory. It allows people via the Internet to communicate to others all around the world, sharing information & personal details about oneself. All the while giving you the impression that the use of these sites is free.  Although “users do not pay Facebook or Twitter to use the services” (Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010) in physical dollars, they are in fact paying with something else. Personal Information.

It has been acknowledged that the “world has been dominated by capitalism” (Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010) and Social Media sites & the Internet are successful businesses as they “are fundamentally based on surveillance and behavior control” (Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010). With the rise of social media, big businesses have become encompassed “oriented toward finding ways to profit from this new environment” (Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010).  They found a way. 

Social media sites such as Facebook compile the information provided by users, “selling (that) information, often for advertising purposes” (Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010). Users of these sites are realized as cash cows for they “can be used to generate profit in many different ways, primarily advertising” (Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010). Often personalized advertisements can now appear on networking sites as the information provided by users is marketed against them.   

It is a bargain that many users of social media are yet to recognize, as they provide an online environment with which to express ourselves “and in return we unwittingly provide them with gold” (Wilson, S 2012).

So here in lies the social media predicament. Is the usage of these sites actually free? Or are users being exploited by way of their personal information being sold to corporations, so that the corporations can then in turn market individualized advertisements back at the user? What do you think?

This video shows some of the negative effects social networking, among them, marketing exploitation. 

Citations:

Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010 ‘Production, Consumption, Prosumption: The nature of capitalism in the age of the digital ‘prosumer’, Journal of Consumer Culture, vol. 10 no. 1, pp 13-36.

Rantanen, T. (2005) The Media and Globalization, Sage, London, pp. 1-18

Wilson, S 2012, Social media exploitation is gravest risk Sydney Morning Herald, The, 03126315, Mar 05, 2012

Globalization & the Pirates of the Modern World

http://becausemollysaidso.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/pirateskull.jpg

“The internet has become emblematic of globalization” (Shah, Nisha 2008). While there are numerous reasons as to why this is, it is mainly because the Internet has made the “instantaneous transfer of information” (Shah, Nisha 2008) accessible to many across the globe. But what happens when sharing information across the Internet is a catalyst for piracy? We have all seen the anti-piracy advertisements at the beginning of our movies and television shows, which all the while appear bizarre, as the anti-piracy campaign targets those whom have legitimate hardcopies.   

Piracy is often thought of as the theft of an object, however when something is illegally downloaded there exists the original copy. While the illegal downloading and file sharing of music has “attribute(ed) the recent sales declines in the recording industry” (Fivelsdal, H 2005), this raises additional legality issues surrounding the music industry.

Think of remix artists, and disc jockeys. Have you ever been out at a nightclub when the resident musician has sampled from your favorite song? Without the proper acknowledgement and royalty check this too is stealing. Should these artists have to pay for every sample of music they use? And here in lies the foremost problem with the theft of music. There exist only so many musical notes in the world. Therefore, theoretically, eventually someone will inadvertently play the same notes that some other recording artist has already used. Is this stealing? With the finite amount of notes existing, eventually combinations are going to repeat. So how can this be theft?

The main contention from the music industry is that it “no longer maintains control over music distribution” (Fivelsdal, H 2005), whereas now the Internet has removed their ability to control and restrict access.

It comes down to the rights of the recording artist’s vs. the right of freedom of information, and the amount of blurred lines that occur between them. Ultimately it is up to the consumers morale compass as to whether it is theft, or their right to have access to the music. What do you think? 

Citations

References

Fivelsdal, H 2005, 'Moving Toward a Balanced and Effective Response to Internet Music Piracy', JMM: The International Journal On Media Management, 7, 3/4, pp. 121-126, Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 21 August 2013.

Shah, Nisha. "From global village to global marketplace: Metaphorical descriptions of the global Internet." International Journal Of Media & Cultural Politics 4, no. 1 (January 2008): 9-26. Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed August 21, 2013).