Paper short abstract:

Many young people in Kenya are currently engaged in creative digital production. However, online attention economy exhibits inherent uncertainties. Therefore, this paper proposes to explore precarity dynamics within the digital ecologies where content creators exercise their innovative skills.

Paper long abstract:

Within the context of contemporary electronic public spaces of social media, it is plausible to posit that attention has established itself as a valuable commodity. Previous research has acknowledged the financial benefits accruing from attention within the digital capitalist economy. In the face of fiscal constraints in the mainstream employment sectors in Kenya, a significant segment of the youth population has resorted to immaterial labour in the creative digital marketplace. However, the online attention economy is fraught with inherent uncertainties and vulnerabilities. For instance, the evanescent nature of attention frequently exposes online content creators to unforeseen financial insecurities. Therefore, this paper proposes to explore precarity dynamics within the digital ecologies where content creators exercise their innovative skills. It seeks to make sense of how the regimes of visibility and consumption interplay with technological affordances to frame the users’ experiences within the ecology of precarity. To realize these, the paper adopts a nuanced understanding of the notion of precarity in a manner that goes beyond remunerative vulnerabilities to encompass other shades of uncertainty such as loss of social capital. Against the backdrop of all these challenges, it would be rewarding to comprehend how digital artists resiliently make do nevertheless. It is hoped that the findings of this paper will locate the vibrant creative entrepreneurial practices in Kenya within broader debates on the future of popular digital arts in Africa.