Playbour Pada Praktik Pakar Produk Google di Indonesia

Abstract

Digital platforms disrupt the way people communicate, work, and earn values. The success of the digital platform business relies a lot on its users’ activities who often do not get direct economic compensation. Users' online activities, including producing and sharing content, generate value for the platform which makes users free labour. Free labour is often disguised by the feeling of pleasure that arises in users such as playing, leisure, and making new relations when actively contributing to the platform, thus making it playbour. This study examines the playbour that occurred in the activities of Google Product Experts. Google Product Experts are Google users who voluntarily dedicating their time and resources to produce and share their knowledge to help other users' in the Google Help Community. In doing so, Google Product Experts engage in gamification mechanisms to determine the exclusive benefits derived from contributions in the community. This research was conducted with a qualitative descriptive design using a case study approach. Based on the results of in-depth interviews and observations of the activities of 9 Google Product Experts in Indonesia, this study finds that playbour occurs in the contributions of Google Product Experts through feelings of pleasure that arise due to the encouragement of various intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of each individual, thus making Product Experts consistently contribute to the Community. On the other hand, this study also finds that gamification is relevant to the playbour experienced by Product Experts because there is a mix between the user's intrinsic and extrinsic drives so that the gamification design becomes powerful to encourage Product Experts to contribute productively. Using the framework of identifying four aspects of Marxist alienation, this study also identifies aspects of labourer alienation that may occur in the playbour of Google Product Expert as an implication of Product Expert's involvement with a capitalistic entity, namely Google. The research findings show that Google Product Experts experience dealienation, due to the autonomy and flexibility to contribute as well as a variety of intrinsic and extrinsic drives that make Product Experts experience joy to consistently contribute. However, dealienation increases the exploitation of Product Experts, along with the increasing contribution of Product Experts in the Community. The study also found that there are extractions and precarities experienced by Product Experts, where Product Expert's spare time turns into productive time that provides value to the platform, as well as precarities faced due to the stigma of Product Expert as users’ service officers of Google