The Cultural Logic of Digital Capitalism: "Participation" from Artistic Critique to Data Production

"Participation" once played a critical role in artistic practice, which was used to against the encroachment of capitalism on art and culture and to demonstrate the individualistic values that promoted freedom, autonomy and authenticity. After the 1960s, the development of computers and networks, on the one hand, technologically realized the values embedded in "participation" and on the other hand, became the carrier of these values. In the era of social media and big data a culture of network participation is gradually formed on the basis of personal expression, original content and data output. As the newest form of self-expression, network participation breeds an individualism that not only helps to establish a "participation" culture but also meets the requirements of digital capitalism to maximize capital production and accumulation through personal data. The cultural logic behind it extends the function of participation from a critique of artistic practice to the production in the Data Age, while this logic also becomes a critique of society and culture.