Digital Economy and Emotional Labor: Hyperbolic Self-Expression as a Point of Departure_Vol. 3 No. 4 (JMSD 2026)_Journal of Management and Social Development (ISSN: 3005-5741)

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Digital Economy and Emotional Labor: Hyperbolic Self-Expression as a Point of Departure

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jmsd.202612409

Author(s)

Mengdi Wang

Affiliation(s)

Department of History, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Abstract

Research on emotional labour began in the 1970s, and around the same time, "audience labour", an early form of digital labour, was put forward. Therefore, it is likely that the two are related. Recently, research on both has focused more on application, but some theoretical work in digital labour has also been conducted. Although they have taken different research paths, neither has studied the intersection of the digital economy and emotional labour. Based on the cases of food-delivery platforms, paid gaming companions and celebrity variety shows, this paper will use the analytical methods of marginal cost, sunk cost and path dependence. It believes that the digital economy has increased and spread emotional labour. Analyze the psychological problems that people face today and gain more knowledge about the social impact of the digital economy.

Keywords

Digital Labor; Digital Economy; Emotional Labor; Labor Theory of Value

References

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