Paper short abstract:

Point hacks and Prize Pigs represent online 'Communities of Practice' which support consumers to take advantage of corporate marketing in the forms of point promotions and promotional competitions respectively. This paper questions the status of these communities in relation to the state.

Paper long abstract:

Neoliberalism's effects, such as labour precarity and inflation, have captured the anthropological imagination for over two decades. The relationship between neoliberalism and digital practices, however, remains underexplored. This paper will examine two online 'communities of practice', Point Hacks (people who collect promotional points) and Prize Pigs (serial entrants of promotional competitions). As I explore, via digital observation and auto-ethnography, these groups thwart the intention of the companies that offer such promotions: to incite purchase, foster brand loyalty and to build databases for use in future promotions or research. At the same time, these communities answer the call of neoliberal discourse as regards to entrepreneurship and the creative management of the household budget. This finding leads me to argue that these communities both work for and against state discourse regarding austerity. In examining these communities, this project sheds new light on the ambivalent relationship between neoliberal discourse and digital practices.