Buy It Now

White Michele White

Description

In Buy It Now, Michele White examines eBay and its emphasis on community and social norms, revealing the cultural assumptions about gender, race, and sexuality that are reinforced throughout the site. She shows how instructional texts, rule systems, and advertisements "configure the user," allowing eBay to indicate how the site is supposed to function while also upholding particular values and practices. White details how eBay reinforces stereotypes about gender and sexuality, looking, for example, at descriptions included in wedding dress listings, and how eBay directs individuals to the "Adult Only" part of the website when they use the search terms "gay" and "lesbian." She discloses the ways that eBay promises a caring community but its "Black Americana" category reproduces racism by allowing sellers' narratives that excuse and romanticize slavery and insult African Americans. White also looks at how participants challenge eBay's categories, rules, and values, examining widely used strategies of resistance by sellers and buyers in the lesbian and gay interest listings. By analyzing the organizational and cultural logics present in eBay, White emphasizes how other Internet settings, including craigslist, are not as transparent, community-oriented, and empowering as they claim. She proposes methods for researching and reconceptualizing new media sites.

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique
• Human?computer interaction
• Cultural studies
• Media studies

Informations

• Publié par: Duke University Press
• Date de parution: 10 juillet 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780822391876
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Buy It Now

Lessons from eBay

M I C H E L E W H I T E

Buy It Now

D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S D U R H A M A N D L O N D O N 2 012

© 2012 Duke University Press

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper ♾

Designed by Amy Ruth Buchanan

Typeset in Minion by Tseng ïnformation Systems, ïnc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data appear on the last printed page of this book.

C O N T E N T S

O N E

T W O

T H R E E

F O U R

F I V E

S I X

Figures vii Preface and Acknowledgments ix

ïntroduction. Lessons and Methods from eBay 1 Between Security and Distrust: eBay’s Brand, Fan, and Virtual Communities 24 Pins, Cards, and GriIth’s Jacket: Producing ïdentity and Brand Communities through eBay Live! Conferences and Collecting 52

You Can “Get ït On” eBay: Selling Gender, Sexuality, and Organizational Logic through the ïnterface 84 eBay’s Visible Masculinities: “Gay” and “Gay ïnterest” Listings and the Politics of Describing 110 eBay Boys Will Be Lesbians: Viewing “Lesbian” and “Lesbian ïnterest” Vintage Photography Listings 143

Re-collecting Black Americana: “Absolutely Derogatory” Objects and Narratives from eBay’s Community 168 Aerword. Everything in Moderation: The Regulating Aspects of craigslist and the Moral Assertions of “Community Flagging” 203

Notes 219 Works Cited 289 ïndex 309

F I G U R E S

 1. eBay, “eBay Gi Finder,” 29 March 2009 14  2. eBay, “eBay,” 11 August 2007 15  3. eBay Shop, eBay Live! 2007, Boston 54  4. Susanna Millman, “Photos From eBay Live! 2008 So Far,”Chatter, 20 June 2008 54  5. Adesso, “Adesso --> Home,” 29 March 2009 92  6. roslynn, “éŝîé ôîîà îçéŝŝ éî éŝŝ - ŝîZé 20- ,” eBay, 13 March 2008 103  7. usaboy, “New 2 Swimsuit Size Small. Gay games Limited Edition,” eBay, 24 May 2007 120  8. hrdmslguy, “é éŝ 2 ŝîŝûî -ô îî - à îééŝ,” eBay, 20 May 2007 122  9. kirkieskorner, “éîŝ ŝKîé low rise éàŝ shorts 30”W Gay ïnterest,” eBay, 21 May 2007 127 10. thana, “Mens c-thru wrap boxer brief underwear lingerie gay in?” eBay, 24 May 2007 129 11. fellowes1964, “éŝ ûçô ŝîéà ŝ ûé / ô à ô çK àŝ çàçé,” eBay, 21 May 2007 130 12. lastcall75773, “1950’s ûé 6” X 8” éà ô éŝîà îééŝ- ,” eBay, 27 February 2007 144 13. photogurl, “Women ûî in the ŝô Lesbian ïnt *1930s* Photo,” eBay, 22 February 2007 145 14. jochen.baeuerle, “àéçîôàé ûé îŝ Vintage 10s ç Lesbian ïnt,” eBay, 7 April 2006 151

15. tomscoolcollectibles, “Vintage Two Nude Women Grooming Photo, Lesbian ïnterest,” eBay, 4 April 2006 154 16. mosonz, “Vintage Photo Women in Drag Pipes, Canes Lesbian ïnt,” eBay, 14 May 2006 162 17. houseofmirth, “ûç ôé in à 1910s îàé ôô àé Lesbian,” eBay, 15 May 2006 164 18. bigbobbie, “àçK àéîçàà îûé ééà çàî îîàûé,” eBay, 3 February 2007 170 19. mollyester, “Vintage Palm Tree Black Demi Nude Handle Beer Mug Stein,” eBay, 28 July 2006 188 20. ggterps, “Old Black baby on chamber pot bank or ash collector,” eBay, 3 August 2006 190 21. shopperoasis, “Black Americana Hit Me Hard Carnival Toss Target Game,” eBay, 12 December 2006 193 22. annie*boomer, “Handmade Black Americana Folk Art Clay Rag Doll Signed,” eBay, 19 December 2006 196 23. attic_wench, “Vintage 40’s? Black Folk Art Mammy Toaster Cover Doll,” eBay, 18 December 2006 197 24. nailnh55, “Vintage Black Americana Post Card Adorable Collectible,” eBay, 19 December 2006 200

P R E F A C E A N D A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

A small painting of a postcard of the Statue of Liberty and Staten ïsland Ferry, which is listed in the “Postcards” category, highlights a series of lessons and methods from eBay. ït is diIcult to understand what is being auctioned be- cause the shape and color of the ferry depicted in the postcard is similar to the yellow ruler that is at the top of the image. Such rulers are a typical part of eBay auctions and illustrate the problems conveying the aspects of objects. ïn this case, the ruler is diIcult to read because the numbers are upside down, almost cropped from the image, begin before the six-inch mark instead of at zero, and are part of a painting of an eBay listing rather than a postcard. The artist Conrad Bakker, who uses the eBay î untitledprojects, auctioned a series of these paintings at the “original” listing price of the postcard. He titled the listing “Staten ïsland Ferry Statue Liberty 1980’scolor postcard: an ûîé ôéç: eBay/ôŝçàŝ/îîàà” to reference the quirky spelling, uppercase and lowercase typefaces, punctuation, and spacing that eBay sellers deploy. Typographical errors and eccentric textual elements are common and conceptually important aspects of ïnternet content and are thus referenced by people like Bakker and quoted in this book. Through his project, Bakker proposes methods for thinking about ïnternet texts, consum- erism, the ways things are categorized, the aspects and limits of the objects that are listed on eBay, and the terms of eBay selling. ïmages like Bakker’s series, the people who produce them, and colleagues and friends have helped me understand the processes and critiques of eBay.  ï began using and thinking about eBay in 1997. This was about the same time that ï was considering dissertation research on “virtual museums,” which