KOMODIFIKASI PENGGUNA LAYANAN MESIN PENCARI DAN MEDIA SOSIAL DI INTERNET

Abstract

Abstrak

Saat ini para pengguna media dan layanan berbasis Internet dibius oleh ilusi kebebasan berekspresi dan kemudahan
komunikasi melalui berbagai layanan berbasis “user generated content”, namun sesungguhnya mereka menukar
hak akses terhadap berbagai layanan tersebut dengan hilangnya privasi terhadap data-data pribadi. Privasi dan
kebebasan berekspresi di ruang maya kini telah menjadi komoditas yang memiliki nilai ekonomi bagi kapitaliskapitalis
jenis baru di ruang maya.
Struktur industri komunikasi yang kini merambah pula media baru, yaitu media-media yang menggunakan Internet
sebagai saluran distribusinya, mengalami perubahan cara pandang dan strategi dalam melakukan akumulasi
modal. Melalui perantaraan teknologi informasi dan komunikasi moderen, para pemodal kini dapat melakukan
kustomasi produk yang disesuaikan dengan kebutuhan spesifik individu. Untuk itu informasi mengenai jati diri
pada level individu menjadi aset yang berharga bagi para pemodal. Institusi-institusi bisnis media dan layanan
online kemudian menjadikan informasi mengenai karakteristik pengguna di level individu sebagai komoditas,
selain akses untuk menjangkau para pengguna tadi.
Kajian ekonomi politik dalam makalah ini berupaya menunjukkan bagaimana kebebasan berekpresi menjadi
komoditas yang ditawarkan kepada para pengguna layanan internet, menggantikan konten sebagai pemikat
utama bagi audiens media massa konvensional. Sementara itu para pengguna kehilangan privasi dan kendali atas
data-data pribadi yang dimilikinya, karena pengelola layanan online menawarkan hal itu kepada para pemodal
lain sebagai komoditas.
Tulisan ini juga mencoba menunjukkan bahwa para kapitalis layanan online dengan dibantu media-media
konvensional, mempromosikan trend untuk menggunakan kebebasan berekpresi, terkoneksi, dan berbagi
dengan orang lain melalui layanan-layanan online. Konsep hegemoni digunakan untuk menganalisa mengapa
ide mengenai masyarakat yang saling terkoneksi (networked society) diterima sebagai suatu konsekuensi logis
dari kemajuan teknologi dan dianggap sebagai suatu kewajaran, walaupun sesungguhnya merupakan bagian dari
ideologi kapitalisme.

Abstract

Media and Internet users nowadays are so much influenced by the illusion of freedom of expression as well as
the simplicity in communicate each other. It was initiated through the sophisticated services that allow its users
to have “user generated content” applications. However what they are doing in fact is to exchange their access
privilege with the loss of their privacy rights towards their personal data. Privacy and freedom of expression
issues in cyber world are now becoming commodities that possess economy values for whom so-called new form
of capitalists.
Communication industries’ structure, including those who explore new media business with the Internet as the
infrastructure, has been experiencing a change of perception and strategy in conducting capital accumulation.
Throughout the modernization of information and communication technologies, investors now can do product
customizations, which are adjusted to individual specific needs. For that reason the information about personal
identity became a valuable asset for those investors. Many institutions of media industry and online service then
brought the information of users’ characteristics in individual level as a commodity, as well as the access to reach
those individuals.
The political economy analysis in this paper was used to show how the freedom of expression became a commodity
that was offered to the Internet users. It was brought up in order to substitute the value of content, the factor
that was constructed as the main attraction for audience within conventional mass media. On the other hand,
the users are losing their privacy and control of their personal data, because online service providers have been
offering those issues as commodities to the investors.
This paper also tried to show that the online service capitalists, with the help of conventional media, have been
promoting the trend to use the freedom of expression. The new trend is how people are connected and share their
expression with others through online services. The concept of hegemony was used to analyze why the idea of
networked society was accepted as a logical consequence of the development of technologies and was regarded
as a common thing, even though it was in fact a part of capitalism ideology.