▁pos its ▁that ▁the ▁middle ▁class ▁is ▁increasing ly ▁dis enf ranch ised ▁from ▁online ▁econom ies . ▁ ▁By ▁convin cing ▁users ▁to ▁give ▁away ▁valuable ▁information ▁about ▁themselves ▁in ▁exchange ▁for ▁free ▁services , ▁fir ms ▁can ▁acc r ue ▁large ▁amounts ▁of ▁data ▁at ▁virt ually ▁no ▁cost . ▁Lan ier ▁calls ▁these ▁fir ms ▁" S ir en ▁Ser vers ," ▁all ud ing ▁to ▁the ▁Sir ens ▁of ▁U ly ss es . ▁Instead ▁of ▁pay ing ▁each ▁individual ▁for ▁their ▁contribution ▁to ▁the ▁data ▁pool , ▁the ▁Sir en ▁Ser vers ▁concent rate ▁wealth ▁in ▁the ▁hands ▁of ▁the ▁few ▁who ▁control ▁the ▁data ▁cent ers . ▁▁ ▁For ▁example , ▁he ▁points ▁to ▁Google ' s ▁translation ▁algorithm , ▁which ▁am alg am ates ▁previous ▁transl ations ▁uploaded ▁by ▁people ▁online , ▁giving ▁the ▁user ▁its ▁best ▁guess . ▁The ▁people ▁behind ▁the ▁source ▁transl ations ▁receive ▁no ▁payment ▁for ▁their ▁work , ▁while ▁Google ▁prof its ▁from ▁increased ▁ad ▁visibility ▁as ▁a ▁powerful ▁Sir en ▁Server . ▁In ▁another ▁example , ▁Lan ier ▁points ▁out ▁that ▁in ▁ 1 9 8 8 , ▁K od ak ▁employed ▁ 1 4 0 , 0 0 0 ▁people ▁when ▁it ▁led ▁the ▁digital ▁imag ing ▁industry . ▁By ▁ 2 0 1 2 , ▁K od ak ▁had ▁file d ▁for ▁bank rupt cy ▁due ▁to ▁free ▁photo - sh aring ▁sites ▁such ▁as ▁Inst agram ▁which ▁employed ▁only ▁ 1 3 ▁people ▁at ▁the ▁time .