Privacy and Capitalism in the Age of Social Media

Grounded in qualitative empirical research about social media users' attitudes towards privacy and surveillance issues, this book contributes to a critical theory of information capitalism by exploring the commodification of privacy and personal data, providing a critical framing of the ongoing debate over privacy in the internet age.

Sebastian Sevignani is a member of the Unified Theory of Information Research Group, Austria, and Assistant Professor at the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena's Department of Sociology, Germany.

Introduction 1. The Empirical Study: How to Critically Research Surveillance and Privacy Issues on Social Media? 2. Privacy in Informational Capitalism 3. Privacy Theories 4. Privacy and Ideology 5. Alternatives