Sort of.
1. It’s classless. Marx believed that the main characteristic of life in a class society is alienation. Web 2.0 connects and networks people. It knows no social or class boundaries.
2. It’s stateless. Web 2.0 is not restricted by geographic or state boundaries. Witness the effortless globalisation you get from blogging
3. Marxist communism was based on common ownership of the means of production. Everyone with a computer has means of production. One of the biggest revolutions in communications is the exponential growth of user generated content. User generated information, data, knowledge, expertise, opinion are the raw materials and currencies of web 2.0. Users are trusted co-developers.
4. Marx uses the metaphor of a ‘base-structure’, meaning the relations between people with regards to the means of production, which forms the basis for a ‘superstructure’ of ideas, social, religious, and politcal frameworks. The relationship between the two is a dialectic one. A base of networked communities in web 2.0 form the basis for a superstructure of social systems, conventions, imperatives and frameworks. The relationship between the two is a dialectic one
5. Consumers in control…sounds a bit like the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’
6. It’s revolutionary. Marx foresaw that true socialism would only emerge as the result of a ‘popular revolution’. In its ‘second age’, the internet is transforming societal, social, economic and political relations and boundaries.
7. In communist society, “nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes “ . And “society regulates the general production” (Marx) . It entailed the full realisation of human freedom. Freedom which put humans in such relations with one another that they would have no wish to exploit, or have any need to. Web 2.0 blurs the lines between functional specialisms, empowers people to do what they want, allows freedom of movement. And it exists through principles of social regulation, open-source, creative commons, folksonomy, ready sharing of data. It is “a system without an owner, tied together by a set of protocols, open standards and agreements for cooperation.“ (O’Reilly)
8. Marx believed that productive ability and participation in social relations were two essential characteristics of human beings, and it was these characteristics that would take humans beyond the perceived limitations of their productive capacity. Web 2.0 is based on the power of collective intelligence and applications that “harness network effects to get better the more people use them” (O’Reilly)
9. A communist society entails abundance in which there is little limit to the projects that humans may undertake. A world where “each gave according to their abilities, and received according to their needs.” Web 2.0 enables everyone to give of their best, and take what they need from an abundance of content and services
10. Marx and Engels argued that communism would not emerge from capitalism in a fully developed state, but would pass through a ‘first phase’ in which most productive property was owned in common but with some class differences remaining (Web 1.0). The ‘first phase’ would eventually give way to a ‘higher phase’ in which class differences were eliminated and a state was no longer needed (web 2.0)
Just a theory.
Image courtesy malidinapoli
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