Livestreamed land: Scams and certainty in Myanmar’s digital land market

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Standard

Livestreamed land: Scams and certainty in Myanmar’s digital land market. / Faxon, Hilary Oliva; Wittekind, Courtney T.

In: Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 08.11.2023.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Faxon, HO & Wittekind, CT 2023, 'Livestreamed land: Scams and certainty in Myanmar’s digital land market', Environment and Planning D: Society and Space. https://doi.org/10.1177/02637758231205958

APA

Faxon, H. O., & Wittekind, C. T. (2023). Livestreamed land: Scams and certainty in Myanmar’s digital land market. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space. https://doi.org/10.1177/02637758231205958

Vancouver

Faxon HO, Wittekind CT. Livestreamed land: Scams and certainty in Myanmar’s digital land market. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space. 2023 Nov 8. https://doi.org/10.1177/02637758231205958

Author

Faxon, Hilary Oliva ; Wittekind, Courtney T. / Livestreamed land: Scams and certainty in Myanmar’s digital land market. In: Environment and Planning D: Society and Space. 2023.

Bibtex

@article{a29d4a6b61074e6db324ba928f337498,
title = "Livestreamed land: Scams and certainty in Myanmar{\textquoteright}s digital land market",
abstract = "Scams are endemic to digital capitalism, whether they manifest as bitcoin bubbles or bullshit jobs. Drawing on two years of digital ethnography in Myanmar{\textquoteright}s Facebook land markets, this article explains what happens when the land scam migrates online. By unraveling warnings of trickery, interviewing wary participants, and inhabiting Facebook Live real estate tours, we argue that the scam is a vocation born of hope and desperation that targets land as the most-stable asset amidst crisis, one which operates through the networked and affective affordances of social media sites. Specifically, we highlight how Facebook enables brokers to {\textquoteleft}crowd{\textquoteright} transactions and amplify hype around sought-after plots, obscuring risk and responsibility while generating excitement and competition. Live video formats enable brokers to cultivate digital intimacy and authenticity from afar, creating a collective emotional investment in what we call the “virtual reality of land.” Bringing together critical geography and media studies, our analysis situates the scam in particular histories of inequality while explaining how these relations are reformulated through social media sites' sensory, affective, and connective affordances.",
keywords = "Digital geography, Myanmar, platform capitalism, property, scams, social media",
author = "Faxon, {Hilary Oliva} and Wittekind, {Courtney T.}",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2023.",
year = "2023",
month = nov,
day = "8",
doi = "10.1177/02637758231205958",
language = "English",
journal = "Environment and Planning D: Society and Space",
issn = "0263-7758",
publisher = "SAGE Publications",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Livestreamed land: Scams and certainty in Myanmar’s digital land market

AU - Faxon, Hilary Oliva

AU - Wittekind, Courtney T.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2023.

PY - 2023/11/8

Y1 - 2023/11/8

N2 - Scams are endemic to digital capitalism, whether they manifest as bitcoin bubbles or bullshit jobs. Drawing on two years of digital ethnography in Myanmar’s Facebook land markets, this article explains what happens when the land scam migrates online. By unraveling warnings of trickery, interviewing wary participants, and inhabiting Facebook Live real estate tours, we argue that the scam is a vocation born of hope and desperation that targets land as the most-stable asset amidst crisis, one which operates through the networked and affective affordances of social media sites. Specifically, we highlight how Facebook enables brokers to ‘crowd’ transactions and amplify hype around sought-after plots, obscuring risk and responsibility while generating excitement and competition. Live video formats enable brokers to cultivate digital intimacy and authenticity from afar, creating a collective emotional investment in what we call the “virtual reality of land.” Bringing together critical geography and media studies, our analysis situates the scam in particular histories of inequality while explaining how these relations are reformulated through social media sites' sensory, affective, and connective affordances.

AB - Scams are endemic to digital capitalism, whether they manifest as bitcoin bubbles or bullshit jobs. Drawing on two years of digital ethnography in Myanmar’s Facebook land markets, this article explains what happens when the land scam migrates online. By unraveling warnings of trickery, interviewing wary participants, and inhabiting Facebook Live real estate tours, we argue that the scam is a vocation born of hope and desperation that targets land as the most-stable asset amidst crisis, one which operates through the networked and affective affordances of social media sites. Specifically, we highlight how Facebook enables brokers to ‘crowd’ transactions and amplify hype around sought-after plots, obscuring risk and responsibility while generating excitement and competition. Live video formats enable brokers to cultivate digital intimacy and authenticity from afar, creating a collective emotional investment in what we call the “virtual reality of land.” Bringing together critical geography and media studies, our analysis situates the scam in particular histories of inequality while explaining how these relations are reformulated through social media sites' sensory, affective, and connective affordances.

KW - Digital geography

KW - Myanmar

KW - platform capitalism

KW - property

KW - scams

KW - social media

U2 - 10.1177/02637758231205958

DO - 10.1177/02637758231205958

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85176336144

JO - Environment and Planning D: Society and Space

JF - Environment and Planning D: Society and Space

SN - 0263-7758

ER -

ID: 390401139