Humans Behind the Internet

Behind the computerized chat screen, behind an automatic search, behind a hashtag that comes up instantly, a microworker puts in more hours than they get paid for, so it appears at the click of a button. Realizing behind the “magic” and “automation” of the internet does not come on its own occurs as an overlapping topic that both authors, Lilly Irani and Lisa Margonelli discusses. Irani focuses on the Amazon Mechanical Turk, often referred as AMT, for the case of microwork crowdsourcing (Irani 720). Meanwhile, Margonelli focuses on the exploited volunteers of the AOL chat rooms (Margonelli, 1999).

In the case of the AOL’s cyber sweatshop, the “volunteer” position originally began with a compensation where the AOL company offered remote staffer positions in exchange for free hours. Essentially free labor for direct profit into the pockets of the AOL company. As the years continued, AOL made its profit off of the chats the volunteers chatted in for what appears as leisure activity. However, by 1996 the service’s non-sex chat estimated to have brought in “$7 million a month with the help of 33,000 volunteers (Margonelli, 1999).”

Margonelli brings to light the “volunteers” of the cyber sweatshop and how the AOL company impacted them. Instead of sounding like a disgruntled employee as they are only paid $21.95 per month for their services, many appeared to feel empowered and respected by their online peers where they would not have in another community. However, individuals such as Nancy’s story brings to light the exploitative and abusive relationship between the volunteers and the AOL company. Nancy describes it as, “a bad relationship she can’t get out of,” as she struggles deciding whether she wants to be paid for her work or maintain her volunteer status (Margonelli, 1999).

On the other hand, focusing on the scholarly article, “The Cultural Work of Microwork,” by Lily Irani, we can gather information regarding microwork for Amazon. Irani describes AMT as, “an internet marketplace where employers can post Human Intelligence Tasks with a price for each task (Irani, 722).” From here the AMTs will select the task they complete for the price set. However, the practice of the mechanical turk, or microworker can appear degrading as the multitude of workers make up what Bezos, the CEO of Amazon calls, “human-as-a-service (Irani, 730).” In addition, Irani demonstrates a great metaphor to represent the job of a microworker in the silicon age, originating from the Mechanical Turk which AMT is named after. The Mechanical Turk appeared as a simulated automation. In the eighteen century, the Mechanical Turk worked as a hoax where a small chessmaster hid inside its case (Irani, 730–731).

Overall, both the articles present information enhancing my understanding of the issues concerning the exploitation of companies. In addition, both the articles demonstrate the reality of individuals who work for the internet and social media companies. Without either of the articles, I would never have thought a microworker or human was on the other side of the internet doing the meticulous tasks making the internet function smoothly.

Citations:

Irani, L. (2015). The Cultural Work of Microwork. New Media & Society, 17(5), 720–739. Retrieved from doi: 10.1177/1461444813511926

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