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Abstract

Drawing on the century-long preoccupation with premodern or “primitive” economic forms that has shaped the social sciences, this essay argues that the political economy of social networking platforms is structured like a potlatch. Understanding this structure and its dynamics is indispensable for grasping the social, economic and cultural preconditions and implications of communicative capitalism.

Keywords

Digital economy gift exchange potlatch social networking sites

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The digital potlatch: The uses of uselessness in the digital economy

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