Economic Rewards of Internet User Labor

This chapter has studied the situation of economic compensation for laborers in OGCOccupationally Generated Content (OGC), PGCProfessional Generated Content (PGC), and UGCUser Generated Content (UGC), and on this basis, it has discussed the exploitation of various types of internet users by network media. The research has found that laborers in OGCOccupationally Generated Content (OGC) can receive compensation similar to individuals in the industrial society. As more professional workers among internet users, those in PGCProfessional Generated Content (PGC) can also receive certain economic compensation for the production of their highly valuable original products. However, apart from a few PGCProfessional Generated Content (PGC) laborers, the vast number of UGCUser Generated Content (UGC) laborers have not received any economic compensation, and the economic wealth they create has been entirely transferred to the hands of network media without compensation. Laborers of various types of internet content are being exploited, with UGCUser Generated Content (UGC) workers suffering the most severe and complete form of exploitation, leading to the emergence of a “new working class” and new povertyNew poverty issues. The network relations of production have significantly impacted the development of network productive forces. Therefore, it is necessary to provide reasonable economic compensation to internet users to adjust network production relations, stir the still waters of the knowledge economyKnowledge economy, and promote the development of the network economy. This chapter provides an in-depth discussion on the economic compensation for the labor of internet users, which is significant for revealing the hidden exploitative relationships within cyberspace and exploring the issue of labor compensation in the digital realm.