Venture Labor: The Risks of Work in Social Media Gina Neff Department of Communication University of Washington

Venture Labor / ven’ tur •lab’ur/ 1. employees’ investments of time or capital in their companies 2. variable describing extent to which people shoulder financial risks 3. corollary to venture capital

“There’s really no downside to stock options.” Venture Labor Work & the Burden of Risk in Media Industries

“There’s really no downside to stock options.”

Venture Labor Work & the Burden of Risk in Media Industries "I don't know if it's my business acumen or sheer luck — but I survived the dotcom crash." “ It’s really up to you to manage that risk, to take precautions”

Venture Labor Work & the Burden of Risk in Media Industries “ But the big risk for us was what could arise was [we were] selling our property. But that’s not unique to a dot-com. We’re selling it. They could buy it and fire us. They could buy it and make it suck. All that stuff.”

“ But the big risk for us was what could arise was [we were] selling our property. But that’s not unique to a dot-com. We’re selling it. They could buy it and fire us. They could buy it and make it suck. All that stuff.”

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Which Ideas & Platforms will fly? “Nobody knows Anything”

Which Ideas & Platforms will fly?

“Nobody knows Anything”

Speculative Labor Work before the pitch Falling barrier to distribution Changing barriers to entry

Work before the pitch

Falling barrier to distribution

Changing barriers to entry

Ramifications for Labor

Ramifications for Labor From unionized work to speculative labor Difference in barriers to distribution, means of cultural production Permanent change in career pathways How labor gets paid

From unionized work to speculative labor

Difference in barriers to distribution, means of cultural production

Permanent change in career pathways

How labor gets paid

Ramifications for Media

Ramifications for Media Risks pushed back to audience and creators Expanding what Becker calls the “art world” Intensification of tension between owners of ideas versus creators of ideas Audience attention as teams of testers

Risks pushed back to audience and creators

Expanding what Becker calls the “art world”

Intensification of tension between owners of ideas versus creators of ideas

Audience attention as teams of testers

Thank you Gina Neff [email_address]

Thank you

Gina Neff

[email_address]