SOCIAL CAPITAL ONLINE SOCIAL CAPITAL CDSMS KANE X. FAUCHER SOCIAL CAPITAL ONLINE Alienation and Accumulation KANE X. FAUCHER Social Capital Online Kane X. Faucher Critical, Digital and Social Media Studies Series Editor: Christian Fuchs The peer-reviewed book series edited by Christian Fuchs publishes books that critically study the role of the internet and digital and social media in society. Titles analyse how power structures, digital capitalism, ideology and social struggles shape and are shaped by digital and social media. They use and develop critical theory discussing the politi- cal relevance and implications of studied topics. The series is a theoretical forum for internet and social media research for books using methods and theories that challenge digital positivism; it also seeks to explore digital media ethics grounded in critical social theories and philosophy. Editorial Board Thomas Allmer, Mark Andrejevic, Miriyam Aouragh, Charles Brown, Eran Fisher, Peter Goodwin, Jonathan Hardy, Kylie Jarrett, Anastasia Kavada, Maria Michalis, Stefania Milan, Vincent Mosco, Jack Qiu, Jernej Amon Prodnik, Marisol Sandoval, Sebastian Sevignani, Pieter Verdegem Published Critical Theory of Communication: New Readings of Lukács, Adorno, Marcuse, Honneth and Habermas in the Age of the Internet Christian Fuchs https://doi.org/10.16997/book1 Knowledge in the Age of Digital Capitalism: An Introduction to Cognitive Materialism Mariano Zukerfeld https://doi.org/10.16997/book3 Politicizing Digital Space: Theory, the Internet, and Renewing Democracy Trevor Garrison Smith https://doi.org/10.16997/book5 Capital, State, Empire: The New American Way of Digital Warfare Scott Timcke https://doi.org/10.16997/book6 The Spectacle 2.0: Reading Debord in the Context of Digital Capitalism Edited by Marco Briziarelli and Emiliana Armano https://doi.org/10.16997/book11 The Big Data Agenda: Data Ethics and Critical Data Studies Annika Richterich https://doi.org/10.16997/book14 Forthcoming The Propaganda Model Today: Filtering Perception and Awareness Edited by Joan Pedro-Carañana, Daniel Broudy & Jeffery Klaehn Critical Theory and Authoritarian Populism Edited by Jeremiah Morelock Social Capital Online: Alienation and Accumulation Kane X. Faucher University of Westminster Press www.uwestminsterpress.co.uk Acknowledgements It would prove unwieldy to name everyone who has played a role in the for- mation of this book from concept to publication, but I owe a major debt to a few whose roles were absolutely essential. Firstly, to the diligent and eagle- eyed Press Manager at the University of Westminster Press, Andrew Lockett, without whom this process would have been derailed long ago. I would also like to extend my gratitude to the reviewers whose suggestions vastly improved this book and helped me achieve clarity. I thank my home unit, the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University for affording me the opportunities to teach and further explore many of the concepts developed here. Also, to two defining influences on my thinking: Dr Nick Dyer-Witheford, whose friendship and fine-grained discussions on labour and political econ- omy are entwined; and to James Chaffee, a fellow author whose insistence on precision never let me get away with anything I couldn’t operationally define. Last on the list, but certainly top of mind, to my partner, Debra, who has been very patient with me taking time away on occasion for me to complete my textual labours. Competing interests The author declares that he has no competing interests in publishing this book. Published by University of Westminster Press 115 Cavendish Street London W1W 6XH www.uwestminsterpress.co.uk Text ©Kane X. Faucher 2018 First published 2018 Series cover concept: Mina Bach (minabach.co.uk) Printed in the UK by Lightning Source Ltd. Print and digital versions typeset by Siliconchips Services Ltd. ISBN (Paperback): 978-1-911534-56-3 ISBN (PDF): 978-1-911534-57-0 ISBN (EPUB): 978-1-911534-58-7 ISBN (Kindle): 978-1-911534-59-4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.16997/book16 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommer cial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA. This license allows for copying and distributing the work, provid ing author attribution is clearly stated, that you are not using the material for commercial purposes, and that modified versions are not distributed. The full text of this book has been peer-reviewed to ensure high academic standards. For full review policies, see: http://www.uwestminsterpress.co.uk/ site/publish/ Suggested citation: Faucher, K. X. 2018. Social Capital Online: Alienation and Accumulation. London: University of Westminster Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16997/ book16. License: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 To read the free, open access version of this book online, visit https://doi.org/10.16997/book16 or scan this QR code with your mobile device: Contents Introduction: What is Online Social Capital? xi Definitional Problems xv Networks xvi Social Buttons xvii Platforms xviii Management and Accumulation of a Resource xx Theoretical Approach xxii Plan of This Book xxiv Chapter 1: Online Social Capital as Social 1 Social Capital and Cultural Capital 2 The Dark Side of Social Capital 6 Online Social Capital: Measurement 9 Online Social Capital: Ownership 10 A Social Tool or a Numbers Game? 11 Main Points 12 Chapter 2: Online Social Capital as Capital 13 Fungibility: What is the Exchange Rate on a ‘Like’? 15 Three Forms of Exchange 16 Circuits and Circulation 20 Online Symbolic Capital 24 Rise of the Micro-Celebrity 29 Liking and the Online Social ‘Market’ – Tracking and Tracing 31 Aggregate Social Capital 33 Main Points 36 Chapter 3: Capitalism and the Ideologies of the Social 39 Communicative Capitalism 40 The Fourth Fantasy 45 Social Capitalist Strategies 47 Gaming the System of Social Capital 49 Microburst Gratification and Mobile Prosumers 52 Accumulation and Time: ‘Time is Money’ 56 Main Points 58 Chapter 4: From Accumulation to Alienation: Marx and Veblen 61 Alienation 62 Alienation, Deskilling, and the Online Social Economy 67 Alienation and Veblen 69 Veblen and Competitive Accumulation 73 Of Social Profits to Be Made Via Conspicuous Display 74 Ideology of Social Competition 76 Conspicuous Prosumption 79 Veblen and Capital Assets 81 Marx versus Veblen? 84 Main Points 85 Chapter 5: Alienation 2.0 – Symptoms of Narcissism and Aggression 87 From Digital Narcissism to Online Id 88 Digital Narcissism 89 Digital Objects and Objectification 90 Tracking and Striving For the Perfect Representation 92 Intensity and Attention 94 Online Ego Management 95 Digital Narcissism and Aggression: This is My Sandbox! 96 The Triumph of the Id 97 Online Aggression 100 Aggression and Approbation Cues 102 Contributing Factors 104 ‘Always Be Closing’ 106 Main Points 108 Chapter 6: The Network Spectacle 109 Baudrillard as Postmodern Interruption? 113 The Integrated Spectacle 116 The Integrated Spectacle: Spectacular Innovation 117 The Integrated Spectacle: Generalized Secrecy, Lies, and the Eternal Present 118 Simulacrum? Spectacle? Both or Neither? 125 The Social Algorithm as the Successor to the Simulacrum and the Spectacle 126 Network Spectacle and the Alienation from Self 128 Spectacular Digital Labour 130 Main Points 132 Conclusion 135 Notes 147 Bibliography 151 Index 161 Introduction: What is Online Social Capital? In 2014, Jonny Byrne, a 19 year old from Ireland, drowned in the River Barrow after participating in the NekNominate social media game: an online version of a chain letter style challenge to drink copious amounts of alcohol in peril- ous situations in an effort to gain ‘likes.’ This was followed by the death of Ross Cummins (22) of Dublin, who was also said to have taken up the challenge. In the run-up to the US 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump made extensive use of Twitter to attack his political opponents, media companies, and various celebrities critical of him as a means of bolstering his base of sup- porters. As President, Trump has continued to make use of this medium, and on various occasions has pointed to his number of followers as proof of his popularity and political legitimacy. In May of 2017, a Russian reporter recorded a few short videos of a sophisti- cated click farm in China where over 10,000 smartphones were placed in docks connected to a network with the single purpose of providing ‘likes’ and com- ments to social media content. What these examples have in common is the subject of this book: the pursuit and accumulation of online social capital, and what implications these have for political economy and critical media studies. With the nearly ubiquitous pres- ence of social media, there has also arisen a great deal of emphasis on online social capital. The number of articles on how to improve online branding strategies, the growing use of click farms, and orchestrated botnet campaigns to artificially inflate social proof are testament to the increasingly perceived importance of acquiring likes and followers on social media. What significantly differs from a time before digital social media is that popularity can now be bet- ter measured, as well as displayed as a form of status. And, despite the awareness that some of these numbers may be inflated by the use of automating features, How to cite this book chapter: Faucher, K. X. 2018. Social Capital Online: Alienation and Accumulation. Pp. xi–xxv. London: University of Westminster Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16997/book16.a. License: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 xii Social Capital Online there may still be a sense of assuming the value of an individual online user via an appeal to the numbers associated with her or his profile. And for those who do not garner higher numbers, there is the risk that others will assume they have lesser value as social beings.