Community Washing

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The author talks about how social media platforms are using community as a marketing tool. He says they use the language of 'community empowerment' to sell their products and services. But he argues that in reality, these communities are being used for branding purposes. The book is based on his time working at an italian etonomist called marxus.

Paris Marx is joined by James Muldoon to discuss his vision for platform socialism and the different ways we could reorganize platforms to serve the public good over corporate profit.

James Muldoon is the author of Platform Socialism: How to Reclaim our Digital Future from Big Tech. He’s also a senior lecturer at the University of Exeter and the Head of Digital Research at Autonomy. Follow James on Twitter at @james_muldoon_.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.

Also mentioned in this episode:

James wrote about why web3 won’t save the internet.
Paris wrote about what’s wrong with discourses about decentralization and why we should nationalize Amazon.
Francesca Bria was interviewed by Crypto Syllabus about web3, decentralization, and her experience with municipal tech projects.
Facebook’s Project Amplify ensured users saw positive stories about the company.
Antonio Negri and Dalla Costa were among the Italian Autonomist Marxists thinking about the social factory. Karl Marx wrote about the concept of surplus value.
G.D.H. Cole wrote about guild socialism. James also mentions the work of Otto Neurath.