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Searching, Sorting, and Managing Glut: Media Software Inscription Strategies for ‘Being Creative’

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The New Normal of Working Lives

Part of the book series: Dynamics of Virtual Work ((DVW))

Abstract

This chapter builds on theories of the ‘creativity dispositif’ to analyse how it mediates, and is mediated by, software for creating, editing, and sharing media content. In particular, the chapter introduces the concept of ‘glut’ as a software inscription strategy and then develops a case study of media software that exemplifies the qualities of glut. It examines three ways in which this strategy is operationalised for the widely used software Adobe Photoshop: its design, its commodification as part of upgrade culture, and its instruction through a just-in-time learning platform. Through this case study, the chapter shows how technologies like media software are essential to the creativity dispositif, enabling and constraining what it means to ‘be creative’ today.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Communication, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada

    Frédérik Lesage

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  1. Frédérik Lesage
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

    Stephanie Taylor

  2. Hawke EU Centre for Mobilities, Migrations and Cultural Transformations, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Susan Luckman

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Lesage, F. (2018). Searching, Sorting, and Managing Glut: Media Software Inscription Strategies for ‘Being Creative’. In: Taylor, S., Luckman, S. (eds) The New Normal of Working Lives. Dynamics of Virtual Work. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66038-7_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66038-7_6

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-66037-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-66038-7

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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