What Constitutes ‘Work’ in The Network Society

For the most part, the “network society” has been embraced with open arms. In the business world, companies have adjusted to new technologies and the rapid sharing of information by adopting new corporate structures and work methods. Lee Rainie and Barry Wellman describe this as a shift to “networked work”, which describes new forms of work that rely on work flexibility and collaboration, as well as expects employees to work for multiple teams and on multiple projects. Also, structurally, companies are abandoning traditional hierarchical models of control and instead adopting more fluid and collaborative models in hopes to inspire creativity and innovation.

I believe these new forms of “networked work” are indicative of a more substantial shift in what constitutes ‘work’ in the “network society”. Prior to the Information Age, work and the economy were built around material modes of production and consumption with an emphasis on products, machinery, factories and transportation. However in the “network society”, what constitutes work is far less material as value derives from networking and the exchange of information. As a result, social networking has become a crucial business practice and can be seen as a new form of work itself.

            Although these new forms of work can be viewed as an inevitable response to the changes brought on by the network society, I think it is important to look at some of the potential consequences they may entail. Andreas Wittel argues that in the network society the  “ ‘commodification of goods and services becomes secondary to the commodification of human relationships’ ” (Wittel, 2001, p. 54).  What Wittel is describing is the way the focus of companies today has moved away from products and towards relationships with clients, users, and customers.  Therefore, social networking has taken on a new role and importance in harvesting a successful business model. This is evident in the prominence of platforms such as LinkedIn. However, the new multidimensional nature of “networked work” and the focus of social networking as a business practice do have some notable implications. In the “network society” we are in a state of constant connectivity. In many ways it is making it harder for us to separate ourselves from our work, as well as makes it difficult to distinguish the relationships within our private lives from those belonging to our ‘network’. Not only this, but as Wittel highlights, relationships in general are becoming increasingly technologized and commoditified, often simply functioning as temporary connections from which two people can gain information. So while the “network society” presents us with new ways to connect, communicate, and collaborate it is also fundamentally changing the nature of work itself and not necessarily for the better.

References:

Rainie, L., & Wellman, B. (2012). Networked: The New Social Operating System. MIT Press.

Wittel, A. (2001). Toward a Network Sociality. Theory, Culture, and Society , 18 (6), 51-76.