(Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love: Gender, Social Media, and Aspirational Work

by Brooke Erin Duffy

An illuminating investigation into a class of enterprising women aspiring to “make it” in the social media economy but often finding only unpaid work

Profound transformations in our digital society have brought many enterprising women to social media platforms—from blogs to YouTube to Instagram—in hopes of channeling their talents into fulfilling careers. In this eye-opening book, Brooke Erin Duffy draws much-needed attention to the gap between the handful who find lucrative careers and the rest, whose “passion projects” amount to free work for corporate brands.
 
Drawing on interviews and fieldwork, Duffy offers fascinating insights into the work and lives of fashion bloggers, beauty vloggers, and designers. She connects the activities of these women to larger shifts in unpaid and gendered labor, offering a lens through which to understand, anticipate, and critique broader transformations in the creative economy. At a moment when social media offer the rousing assurance that anyone can “make it”—and stand out among freelancers, temps, and gig workers—Duffy asks us all to consider the stakes of not getting paid to do what you love.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology, Feminism, Labor, School, Technology, Social Science

320 pages, Hardcover

Published June 27, 2017

About the author

Brooke Erin Duffy, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Cornell University and a faculty affiliate of the University’s Center for the Study of Inequality. Her specific areas of interest include digital/social media industries; gender, identity, and self-expression; media and cultural production; and labor and work in the digital age.

Duffy has taught undergraduate and graduate courses on “Media and Society,” “Cultural Production in the Digital Age,” “Media Theory,” “Advertising and Society,” and “Qualitative Research Methods,” among others. During the 2016-2017 academic year, she’s teaching “Gender and Media” and “New Media & Society.”

Duffy completed her Ph.D. at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania in 2011. She holds an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and B.A. from The Pennsylvania State University, where she was the student marshal for the College of Communications. She is also a member of the Annenberg School Alumni Advisory Board.

Reviews

[Darnell · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's some decent material in this book, but I also have some serious issues with it.

I don't blame the author for not undertaking a massive research project on work in the internet era, but instead of thoroughly covering a subfield, it reaches broad conclusions relying on assumptions instead of the main research. It's well-grounded when it talks about how pre-internet female-coded work is gendered, but I was reading to learn more about how post-internet work is gendered, and there it doesn't add much clarity. Instead it blurs the lines between multiple phenomena that are gendered in very different ways.

There's also a fundamental problem with academic research that is itself part of the system it wants to study neutrally. Tucked away in the methodology appendix is an acknowledgement that writing a book with the names and blogs of people who are professional brands might itself be an exercise in branding. In my opinion, this is a lens that alters everything in the book and should have been addressed repeatedly instead of brushed aside.

Finally, the methodology suggests that all the interviewees were unpaid, which I find ironic given that the book is profiting off of their unpaid labor in a way very similar to how it criticizes brands for doing to those bloggers.

[DM · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good points and helpful sources, but wish she had incorporated race into her argument. Concept of aspirational labor useful.

[Doreenandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

So... the author has said a lot about how the industry uses free adverts and PR gifts to lure in a lot of social media or content creators, and I think it was necessary to highlight the bad side of the Influencer Business or the lure of the beauty in influencers job or life.

As much as I picked this up knowing fully it was from the negative aspect of it, a bit of me expected solutions than only showcasing problems, which didn't happen.

So yes, I'm accustomed to the author's perspective on how the beauty of social media is not always authentic. Still, we all can't fight that this is now headed to become a Billion Dollar industry, and there is also so much positive impact from it than negative.

However, I am glad I read it; it gave me a move toward being candid on how much I make on social media, to stop at least covering or luring in lies and beauty on being a Digital Citizen.

[Catherine]

I admit to skipping two of the middle chapters (it’s not this book’s fault I didn’t realize it was going to be about a narrow slice of the social media landscape, aka white female fashion bloggers) but I’m really glad I stayed for the epilogue. Critical academia/university studies is where some of the most interesting work in cultural studies is happening rn imo!!! Anyway: lots of helpful concepts here (eg aspirational labor, future visibility) and I learned a lot reading this.

[Telma Hakala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I read this book for school, it stirred many emotions. Mostly negative ones toward those who undermine the work of creative and aspirational people in social media.

The historical representation of women as mere consumers (a view largely shaped by men in positions of power within the media field) can still be seen today in the social media sphere, where women are often not respected.

I also realized that I never want to work in that field, so I can live my life in peace. Still, I have nothing but sympathy for those who choose to pursue entrepreneurship on social media.

[Jerrid Kruse · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent research project exploring the experiences of those in the blogging (and other) world. Those familiar with critical scholarship with likely see the clear connections to critique of capitalism in general. That is, we exclaim at the surprising success of a few and extrapolate equal opportunity for all despite the many contingent factors that mediate such results.

As an educator, I found myself thinking to how ed tech enthusiasts constantly point to the data that shows that tech is better, when that data makes clear that students prefer tech, but learning is equal or even worse.

I particularly liked the connection in the last chapter to academia. As self-directed as scholars get to be, the culture of the internet (and other factors) is pushing us to study what's popular rather than what's interesting. This will (has?) create a problematic echo chamber.

[Woollythinker · Rating 4 out of 5]

In some ways this wasn't everything I wanted it to be – for instance, the analysis was very much skewed towards fashion and beauty bloggers; I would have liked to see more about the Etsy makers and so on. Of course there's a lot of common ground but also some significant differences. The writing is also a little on the dry side and the overall argument didn't entirely come together for me.

But the book does have some meat on the gendering of consumption vs production, and the insidiousness of aspirational labour. I consider it important reading for those working online.

[Nicole Woolaston · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up, because I was under the impression there would be information about how to use blogging and/or social media to promote yourself or your brand. Sadly, this was not the case. This book actually contains short stories about various people using Instagram and other forms of social media to market themselves. There are stories about bloggers working on their blogs, several hours per week, creating new posts in hopes of landing a job at a magazine, etc. There are no tips, tricks, or handy bits of advice. That would have been more useful.

[Lauren Levitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid ethnography of female digital content creators like bloggers and vloggers. Duffy situates the feminized labor of beauty, fashion, and design bloggers within the historical context the gendered split between the public and private spheres, aspirational consumption, and the employment of women in advertising to argue that these women engage in "aspirational labor," which involves little or not pay in the hopes that one day they will be able to make a living "doing what they love." Well researched and written, I had no major complaints about her methods or analysis.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really interesting look into the lives of "influencers" and people who make their living via social media. Duffy also draws some great parallels with academia that have given me a lot to think about.

[Rhys M · Rating 3 out of 5]

clear, concise writing that would’ve benefitted from a more intersectional lens. a lot of the social media trends/technology mentioned throughout has already aged considerably, but that’s just how mass communication scholarship works

[Hope Woodworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating insight into the world of social media careers that exposes the dark underbelly of aspirational labor.

[Divya · Rating 3 out of 5]

very academic but informative

[José Miguel Tomasena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy interesante libro académico sobre el trabajo no remunerado que hacen las creadoras de contenido digital en redes sociales. Género, clase y nuevas figuras mediáticas.

[Aisha Manus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Insightful at times. A topic I never really thought about.

[Zhenia Vasiliev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very easy to read, thoroughly researched and plently of field reports. Sheds light on both positive and negative sides of the labour of fashion bloggers, so a great balanced view of the industry.

[carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

my degree slaps

[Colette · Rating 4 out of 5]

read for my gender studies class but actually so fascinating

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorites read in 2019:
https://hollograms.blogspot.com/2020/...