From leisure to labour: towards a typology of the motivations, structures and experiences of work‐related blogging

Abstract

Beyond a purely social activity, mode of leisure or form of escape, blogging is an increasingly important form of labour that is becoming central to many jobs, occupations and forms of self‐employment. Yet, the labour dynamics of blogging remain poorly understood and articulated. To address this gap, this paper presents a novel typology of work‐related blogging based on the integration of existing knowledge, an in‐depth qualitative analysis of 10 blogs and 1,304 blog posts and a ‘total social organisation of labour’ framework. It contributes to the sociology of work by unpacking and nuancing our collective understanding of the relationships between blogging, labour market mobility and labour market trends such as the fragmentation of work, the heightened significance of unpaid labour and new forms of resistance and solidarity in the digital age.