Digital Desire in the Daydream Machine

Abstract

This article analyzes the sociality of illegal file sharing as one domain of teletechnology, using poststructural theory to conceptualize the file-sharing setting. It reveals the assumptions about file sharing in popular media, and demonstrates how the persistence of illegal file sharing across racial, economic, and status lines might be attributed to psychological and neurophysiological causes. To conclude, I consider the implications of poststructuralism for extension and synthesis in future social theory.Five years ago, in this journal, Patricia Clough (2000a:397) issued a tall order for sociology: to imagine the ontological implications of poststructuralism in order to produce a sociology capable of jumping ''from and to different scales of sociality from the microphysical [e.g., unconscious desire] to the macrocultural [e.g., global capital].'' A new politics was deemed necessary in order to imagine the historicity of the technical substrate of the unconscious and the global reach of teletechnology. Put another way: if the filmic apparatus of late modernity 1 gave rise to certain enframings for unconscious desire, then how do the objects of teletechnology delimit new channels for desire and pleasure, labor and capital? Teletechnology is not just personal computers and television, per se, but ''the full interface of computer technology'' (Clough 2000b:3), and thereby includes cell phones, personal digital assistants, and peer-to-peer file-sharing networks. Clough's edict, first, echoes Durkheim's dream ([1893] 1984:xxvi) of sociology as the science of morality.Because what we propose to study is above all reality, it does not follow that we should give up the idea of improving it. We would esteem our research not worth the labour of a single hour if its interest were merely speculative.Second, it insists that we reckon with the historical specificity of the unconscious and its refraction of and through teletechnology, which promises: globalized networks of information and communication whereby layers of electronic images, texts, and sounds flow in real time, so that the speeds of . . . reterritorialization of social spaces . . . are beyond any user's mere decision to turn ''it'' on or off . . . [T]eletechnology is both [a] register and an actualization of postpersonal thought. (Clough 2000b:3)

Positive marketing: A new theoretical prototype of sharing in an online community

“…Our ability to detail six structural elements used by the Freecycle online community enhances the literature's understanding of online sharing. Our structural assessment is distinct from previous forms of sharing research that have examined the open-source software projects that offer evidence of individuals sharing their time and effort (Hemetsberger, 2002(Hemetsberger, , 2006Lakhani & von Hippel, 2002;Stewart, 2005), the use of the Internet in sharing music and movies (Doane, 2006;Giesler, 2006), sharing themselves (Schau & Gilly, 2003), and even sharing experiences ranging from online gaming (Waskul & Lust, 2004) to sexual behavior (Merkle & Richardson, 2000), as well as research on virtual communities (Chan & Li, 2010;Wu, Chen, & Chung, 2010). Our assessment adds to the critical perspective of positive marketing (Mittelstaedt et al, 2015), in that it examines the structural aspects required to distribute repurposed goods within an online community.…”

Religiosity and Music Copyright Theft Among Canadian Baptist Youth

“…Chiou, Huang, and Lee (2005) reported that attributive satisfaction, perceived prosecution risk, magnitude of consequence, and social consensus were important in influencing attitudes and behaviours toward illegal music downloading. Doane (2006) reported that household income and educational attainment were both negatively correlated with illegal music downloading. Cronan and Al-Rafee (2007) reported that attitude, past piracy behaviour, and moral obligation were major influences on why individuals pirated music.…”