Kapitał uwagi jako skutek powstania mediów społecznościowych
Attention capital as a result of the emergence of the social media

Summary/Abstract: In this paper a theoretical model based on Pierre Bourdieu’s forms of capital is presented. It is applied to an analysis of cultural content production, distribution and consumption mechanisms. It assumes that on the cultural market there is always a social entity mediating between a sender and a receiver – on the one hand as a medium, on the other as institution granting salary to the author. After sketching a historical background, a new type of capital – attention capital – is presented. It has been emerging as a result of the technical development of the mass media and its functioning is profoundly transformed by the social media. Though attention capital (measured, e.g., by the number of likes or comments) is often translatable to other forms of capital, it remains rather autonomous. However, the development of the Internet allows us to broader our choice of content, consistent with our preferences, but the gratification, in form of views, is gained not so much by the author of content, but rather by a person who has shared it. This process is even more noticeable in the case of memes, whose authorship often cannot even be established. As a result of the changes on the Internet, the emergence of new form of a socio-cultural economy can be noticed.

• Details
• Contents