Music downloads - Paying and not paying with social capital

Image source: Author's photo

For those who download music illegally, what is the value of a paid digital download? Recent studies seem to suggest a highly subjective moral value, but is that the same economic value we once attributed to CDs, cassettes and vinyl?

I've heard various people suggest that the experience of purchasing and listening to a physical album (discussions with record store employees, looking through the liner notes and artwork, listening with others) does not compare to a digital download. Yet there is a culture associated with downloads. People derive social capital from sharing music for download because others respond, discussion is generated, and people are exposed to new music.

The music industry isn't going to be able to turn the social capital of music into premium content, but could they monetise it? Ping, iTune's inbuilt social network, is Apple's attempt to derive sales from the social value of music. It doesn't introduce any new premium content, but it does provide a new arena for digital music culture to play out, one where social content is linked to legitimate downloads.

Because it doesn't eliminate illegal music sharing or introduce new premium digital content, Ping is not a premium paywall but a "paycorridor". The social capital generated by Ping users guides them away from illegal downloads and towards the iTunes store.

Importantly, artists (or at least their PR) are users of Ping. The point of connection betweens fans and artists is a potential site for future premium content.

Social Networking and Security

Personally, for me, my privacy and the security of my information is my primary concern when using the internet. I’ve heard too many horror stories to take for granted that no one will take advantage of any information I let out online. For this reason, I rarely, if ever, give out my real name or other information online unless I personally know whoever is requesting the information. I keep a personal email address for personal use with people I know, and an anonymous one for anything else.

I will never join Facebook. With all the criticism over their privacy policy and security, I would never feel comfortable trusting the website to not let my information get out to people I don’t want it to. I neither trust Facebook as a technology, or the people behind it.

I think people do have to remember that social networking sites are a technology, and on the internet, and can therefore fail or be hacked. Even email accounts can be hacked. And Facebook has proven that it is not secure enough for me to feel comfortable using it.

I might be overly cautious about such things, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.

Facebook: The Ultimate Social Networking Site

Facebook since its inception has revolutionized the landscape which is social networking. It is arguably at the forefront of a consumer driven force whose sole purpose is to connect with friends and relatives whom are scattered across the globe. It has ultimately turned Mark Zuckerberg, its founder, into a household name and also has made him one of if not the youngest multi-billionaires in the world.

Facebook's main purpose is that of virtual social interaction and also that of social sharing i.e. that sharing of photos and videos. It allows users to update a variety of information unique to the individual which in-turn sets them apart from others whom they are associated with.

What I find fascinating and comforting about Facebook the most is the option to make everything you share private and only available to a select group of people of your choosing. This is what, in my opinion, sets it apart from other social networking sites. Although other social networking sites such as Bebo and Myspace do give users this choice it is not to the varying extent that Facebook does which, in my opinion, makes it appealing to a wider demographic.

Unlike a lot of other social networking sites like Bebo, Facebook attracts a sub-culture of gamers by allowing users of the site access to a variety of applications which not only allow users to play out various scenarios but also allow users to at the same time to communicate and work with their friends and relatives to progress to varying levels which leads to the unlocking of specialized items only available to people who do so. Farmville, a Facebook application, without a doubt has become a phenomenom of sorts as it gives users the chance to awaken their creative side by creating and managing a virtual farm capable of growing crops, nurturing farm animals and also to build buildings which come in handy at various points throughout the applications progression. It is the vast multitude of options that has given this application a massive pop-culture status and continues to grow in terms of content and user subscription.

As our society has and is becoming increasingly immersed in media culture, it is the products of this media culture i.e. celebs, films that are taking advantage of this particular social networking sites popularity to promote themselves and as a result gain mass followings which ultimately leads to the explosion of their popularity and also to our familiarity with the products which they are promoting. Various fan pages and pages linked with familar products in the media also allows users of Facebook chances to enter a variety of competitions, some carying with them massive prizes and also keys users in on information linked to events that are happening around the globe.

On the flipside, like many things out there, Facebook has had its up and downs namely to do with the sites claim to ownership over users personal information and photos which was later retracted after a massive outcry from its users. Like other social networking sites out there Facebook is never going to be safe from hackers but it is our responsibility as users of this site to prevent this from happening by insuring that our personal information, log in names and passwords, are not shared with anyone we done not trust and also that we insure that our profiles privacy settings are set to the right levels.

By Kyle Redpath
18/09/2010

Facebook, PANIC! Really?

As with most new technologies, there seems to be a moral panic around the implications the social network site Facebook has and is having on our social behaviour. Boyd’s reading is very convincing and the points he makes are true as I can see from my experience as a facebook user. For Example, the news feeds on facebook do allow more exposure to one’s personal details more easily and this does concern me as alot of the groups that I see some people join on facebook I do pass judgement on. Also some of the status updates that people declare on facebook are shocking as some are so personal and if I am not that close with them it does alter the way I view them. This does seem serious, especially if people have employers or parents as friends as I think some things should be private, and the way we interact with some people should be different from others. Evidently, I do believe Boyd does have a good point that it’s scary how all social contexts all emerge into one on facebook. However, when applying his argument to my own engagement with facebook I cannot relate. To me Facebook is a public place so I do not write personal status updates and if I do I do think carefully about what I post. In contrast if I was at home talking with my family or with my close friends I really would say anything personal and talk freely. Mark Zuckerberg is being portrayed as such a powerful evil person, but in reality we are in control of how we define what is private not him. We do have the right to privacy I believe because to me privacy is almost like freedom, in the public sphere we are controlled to act in certain ways by different institutions and certain norms which are in place. Within the private sphere there is less control and we are given more freedom and I think this is important. Zuckerberg does say that Facebook is following the trends within society to become more public giving examples such as twitter and reality television, however I’m exposed to all these and still appreciate my privacy. Overall, privacy is a personal choice and I do concur with Boyd by saying it is up to us whether privacy is something we want. Not Zuckerberg.