Culture and economy in the age of social media /

The latest book by Fuchs (Univ. of Westminster, UK) explores the complex interrelationships among culture, the economy, and social media. For example, Facebook is a cultural phenomenon, but its users perform unpaid work, the results of which can be sold or rented to Facebook clients (to whom it sells advertisements as if Facebook aficionados were in the employ of a market research or polling business). At the same time, the Facebook experience changes many people, judging by the time they spend on the website. For Fuchs, culture, the economy, and social media all shape and are shaped by life as people know it. This book is especially relevant in a culture in which people seem to interpret their lives as the sum of segmented spheres of activity: work, leisure, family responsibilities, and physical fitness. In presenting his analysis, Fuchs displays an extensive command of the literature of cultural analysis as well as an equally impressive familiarity with the work of Marx and those who analyze it. In short, this valuable book offers very insightful analysis into the nature of life in the contemporary world, which may offer some guidance for improving the conditions of modern life. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --Michael Perelman, California State University, Chico