This week’s lecture discussed how New Media Enterprises work, and the question was raised; Are these companies and corporations exploiting us for their own benefits?

In some ways they aren’t, we choose to use these tools and sites for entertainment and knowledge, so why should it be a problem for the enterprise to make some money from us. Especially since, they have provided us with a network for free.

However, some users seem to think they are being exploited, and their data is used for the wrong reason. This is kind of true, although it is usually easy to identify when you are being exploited and if a site is being used for evil. We all know not to click on ‘Congratulations! You are our 100,000 viewer. Click here to claim your free iPad’ so why do people think they are being exploited when a company says, ‘Have you ever wanted to see live surveillance footage, well now is your chance to work like part of the government and notice if anything abnormal is happening at the boarder’. If one isn’t intelligent enough to realise this is a scam for you to work for them for free, you are not going to realise you are being exploited until a friend/college has told you it is. So why would you be annoyed at someone who has provided you with some fun on a rainy day or during your lunch break at work. Especially since there are people who are actually being exploited and forced to work in horrifying conditions.

Have you ever heard of the saying “I have put my blood, sweat and tears, into the project…” Well technology manufacturing companies have done exactly that. Not their blood, sweat and tears, but the blood, sweat and tears of many under paid, over worked, suicidal attempting workers. Foxcomm, the manufacturer for the world’s leading technology company, Apple, is considered the world’s worst corporation. Thousands of employees are working in extremely harsh environment, with unpaid, forced overtime. The founder of Foxcomm, Terry Gou, believes a harsh environment is a good thing, and no mistake should go unpunished. This type of leadership has leader to several successful suicides each year. **Please note: This type of environment would be evident in most technology manufacturing companies, however, Foxcomm is known to be the worst.** So, the next time you complain about your phone, tablet, or computer is ‘so last year’, take a minute to consider the people who have physically made these technologies for you.

In conclusion, I do believe New Media Enterprises exploit the factories workers who physically make the products, however I disagree with the idea users are being exploited and their data is being used for the evil or to empower the corporation.

ReCAPTCHA. “Digitalizing books, One word at a time” accessed 23/03/2014 http://www.google.com/recaptcha/learnmore

Chan, Jenny. “iSlave”. New Internationalist Magazine. Issue 441. Accessed 24/03/2014 http://newint.org/features/2011/04/01/islave-foxconn-suicides-workers/

Zittrain, Jonathan. 2009. Minds for Sale (video, 1hr 16mins). 16 November. Available at: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/interactive/events/2009/11/berkwest