Being social for whom? Issues of monetization, exploitation, and alienation in mobile social games

Abstract

This study investigates Korean teen females’ Kakao gaming culture by focusing on the political economy of mobile social games and the issue of free labor within free-to-play games. Through focus group interviews with 23 teen females, the study explores how the connective properties of the KakaoTalk platform affect the logics of Kakao Games and how gamers’ social activities become monetized and commodified by game companies. Based on the monetization strategies of free-to-play games and the theoretical framework of exploitation and alienation in digital labor, we analyze how the game companies subtly conceal viral marketing tools under the mask of socializing components, specifically by encouraging users to send invitations and hearts, as well as engage in boasting. We argue that while this process multiplies revenue for the corporate territory of game companies and platform businesses, teen female gamers are alienated not only from their game play and social labor but also from themselves and others, thus revealing commodified social relations. This study interrogates the impact of the platformization and gamblification of the game industry and underscores the risk they produce for vulnerable populations.

Critical reflection on digital labor of network anchor: Specialized division of labour networks and atomization of labor

“…Users use the platform for shopping, entertainment and other behaviors to meet their own needs, but also become workers under the master and control of platform capital. "Audience goods" developed into "unpaid labor" defined by Italian scholar Terranova, that is, the digital labor behaviors of Internet users, such as browsing the web, chatting and commenting, are actually unpaid and voluntary gratis labor (Lee and Seo, 2024). The live broadcast platform the users inductive into the labor space of capital loop, provides users with attractive content, and return them with emotion and material according to the economic value created by users, prompting users to voluntarily carry out digital labor in the labor space, and then produce economic have value content for digital capital (Ji, 2021).…”

“…These grassroots anchors rove outside the system of online celebrity brokerage companies, and the scenes presented in their short videos and live broadcasts are not as exquisite as those presented by the big anchors, and their manners and manners are closer to the "earthy" label put by masses public opinion on grassroots online celebrity. Based on the platform practice perspective, this paper aims to investigate the development model and behaviour characterization of grassroots anchors and show the class differentiation within the digital workers' group, with a view to enriching the academic community's understanding of the diversity and complexity of digital workers [1][2][3][4][5][6][7].…”