Is Using Facebook a Form of Affective Labor?

Yes, Facebook users provide affective labor to the company. There are an estimated 2.4 billion monthly users of Facebook, making it the largest social networking site (SNS) globally (Statista, 2020). With many SNSs in the modern digital world, from Twitter, Whatsapp, LinkedIn, Instagram, and many others, the conduct of the operations of these corporations need to be under keen observation due to the affective labor strategy they apply. Affective labor aims at the production of emotional experiences via the interaction of people and thus can be interfered with to create an economic effect (Adrian Scribano, 2019). This is the strategy being applied in the Web 2.0 versions like Facebook and LinkedIn in the modern global village in creating an almost self-sustaining exploitative economy through the social networking sites (Murphy, 2018). This essay seeks to expound as to why Facebook is a form of affective labor.

Facebook users benefit from its’ operations in a variety of ways. The accessible communication that one can establish with any registered Facebook user creates a virtual global village where people can create or maintain connections. Facebook users also have access to a variety of all news on their timelines, fates that could not be imagined two decades ago (Davey, 2016). The ability to post photos on one’s profile and share them to gain likes and views from their friends also aids users in entertainment. These actions lead to the generation and production of content by Facebook users within the same sites. It is approximated that in 2016, each user spent an estimated 50 minutes a day on Facebook products, inclusive of Instagram and Whatsapp, both subsidiaries of Facebook (Doyle, 2015).

Facebook is considered an affective form of labor. This is per a study conducted by proving that emotions can be spread via Facebook use (Adam D. I. Kramer, 2014). Thus this can be manipulated in providing affective labor for the company. The time spent ‘online working’ by users on Facebook through liking, sharing, commenting posts, buying and selling goods, and maintenance of relationships goes a long way in providing all the data that is needed to sustain Facebook. This is because the end product is the generation of the user and personal data. As of 2015, Facebook’s data policy allows them to access one’s user data and location to be able to personalize their access to news and services, a strategy that weakens the confidentiality of user data, all the while increasing Facebook marketing clients. This is why an estimated 90%of Facebook’s revenues are acquired via adverts (Jenkins, 2018).

Whatsapp, a subsidy of Facebook that was purchased for 22 million dollars in February 2014, allows the app to link one’s mobile and financial data, and most of this info ends up on marketers’ hands depending on the highest bidder (UN, 2019). Thus, in summary, every Facebook user works for the company through their activities on the site without pay but for the only gratification.

The question that even theorists fail to answer is, if users go to online social networking platforms so as to satisfy their need for gratification, which they do get, does this really make it labor exploitation? The users feel entertained and accomplished after using Facebook sites, and that is why they tend to go back now and then, without undue pressure from anyone. This continues making the corporations rich without pay to the producers of the content sustaining the social networking sites (Beverungen, 2015). Thus, it is evident that social networking sites are forms of affective labor, preying on the consumers’ emotional needs and online activities to achieve the corporations’ goals without pay to the ‘real’ owners of the company (Williams, 2018). This is an evolved modern capitalism strategy that needs to be reviewed as the world advances in this modern digital era.

References

Adam D. I. Kramer, J. E. G. a. J. T. H., 2014. PNAS. Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks, 7th June.

Adrian Scribano, P. L., 2019. Digital Labour, Society and the Politics of Sensibilities. 2 ed. s.l.:Springer.

Beverungen, A., 2015. Free Labour, Social Media, Management; Challenging Marxist Organizational Studies. Organization Studies, 36(10), p. 28.

Davey, L., 2016. How to Build Community on Facebook. [Online]

Available at: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-build-community-on-facebook/

[Accessed 20 March 2020].

Doyle, K., 2015. Facebook, Whatsapp and the Commodification of Affective Labour, s.l.: University of Melbourne.

Jenkins, A., 2018. Facebook Just Revealed 3 Major Changes to Its Privacy Settings. Time, 28 March, pp. 1-4.

Murphy, C., 2018. Like, Post,Share, Buy: the Commercial Value of Affective Networking on Social Media. Irish Communication Review, 16(1), pp. 24-35.

Statista, 2020. Statista. Number of Facebook users worldwide 2008-2019, 13 Jan, p. 2.

UN, 2019. Digital Economy Report; Value Creation and Capture – Implications for Developing Countries. 1 ed. Geneva: United Nations.

Williams, C., 2018. Mashable. Forget data. Free labor is Facebook’s lifeblood, 26 March, pp. 21-25.