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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Using Commodities to Understand Commodities

I've been trying to better understand in what ways people can be "commodified" in digital culture. I've been thinking about this issue in relation to the novel I'm studying, but I needed other voices to back me up- other voices to validate that this issue is interesting and relevant. So I used my own Facebook friends as commodities, hoping to get some input from them to help me with my work. Last week, I reached out to my largest personally-connected network, hoping I'd get some responses. I expected more, but appreciated the thoughtful input of those who chimed in.

  

I also took J.J.'s and Dr. Burton's advice (via G+) and read about what "experts," such as Michel Foucault, had to say on the subject.  Foucault's conception of power in "Truth and Power" is that "extensive social networks" transmit power in the form of production in all directions. This production power produces and enhances "goods" that need not be physical goods; the goods he discusses include knowledge, health, wealth, and social cohesion. Ultimately, Foucault concludes that "Power [the power to produce any of the above 'goods'] traverses and produces things; it induces pleasure, forms knowledge, and produces discourse." I have a lot more reading and interacting to do, but I feel like I'm starting to get a better handle on what it means to be a commodity and how that affects what we do online.


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