The Platformization of Labor and Society

Type Book Section Author Antonio A. Casilli Author Julian Posada Editor Mark Graham Editor William H. Dutton URL https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198843498.003.0018 Publisher Oxford University Press Pages 293–306 ISBN 978-0-19-884349-8 Date 2019-07-18 Extra DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198843498.003.0018 Accessed 2022-11-14 20:05:54 Library Catalog Silverchair Abstract This chapter focuses on the role of digital intermediaries in shaping technology, society, and economy under what Casilli and Posada call “the paradigm of the platform.” They trace the historical relationship between platforms, markets, and enterprises to demonstrate the role of algorithms in matching users, pieces of software, goods, and services, and how platforms can create value from the content and data generated by users. Their primary argument is that platforms play a fundamental role in establishing a digital labor relationship with their users by allocating underpaid or unpaid tasks to them. In order to enable and coordinate users’ contributions, platforms need to standardize and fragment (“taskify”) labor processes. The authors conclude by highlighting the link between platformization and automation, with the tech giants employing their users’ data to produce artificial intelligence and machine-learning solutions to an expanding range of problems. Book Title Society and the Internet: How Networks of Information and Communication are Changing Our Lives