Platform research is a popular and rapidly expanding field, and as such, while much of the seminal platform scholarship comes from the Global North, we see an increase in case studies focused on other parts of the world (e.g. Mohat & Punathambekar 2019; Lin & De Kloet 2019; Steinberg et al. 2022; Zhang & Chen…
DetailsIn the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, disinformation has reached unprecedented proportions, posing a number of challenges to societies worldwide. Many nation-states have taken measures to combat disinformation; however, the strategies and policies adopted to address this issue differ in each region of the world. Encountering disinformation myself made me think about the lack of…
DetailsIntroduction Following narratives of the Silicon Valley, platforms have emerged as the harbingers of unity and waves of democratic movements. The umbrella movement or the Black Lives Matter protests, as an example, have often been quoted as showing how digital platforms play crucial roles in democratic movements (Agur & Frisch, 2019). Opposing this narrative, scholars…
DetailsThe advent of new technologies and digital platforms has given way to a surge in gig contracts, and various forms of independent work. Although the majority of the platform workforce is composed of men, there has been a notable increase of women’s participation in platform work since 2000, with the growth rate among women surpassing…
DetailsThe ‘Methodology’ section of published articles tends to present research as a smooth process, whereby investigators move neatly from research design, to data collection, analysis and finally ‘write it all up’. This blog post provides a ‘behind the scenes’ for our project, ‘Belong Anywhere: The Politics of Airbnb in Occupied Territories’. The project is funded…
DetailsAnyone who has ever visited Amsterdam must have noticed that the bike lanes seem to operate on an “Enjoy at your own risk!” principle. Although they are internationally admired for genius urban planning and their efficiency at reducing car usage and carbon emissions, the iconic red tarmac can be a feared battleground for tourists and…
DetailsIntroduction Regardless of whether I want to inform myself about the latest news, want to get home at night, or want to go on holiday to Spain, I use platforms like YouTube, Uber, or Airbnb. I would even call myself a platform-dependent person, as many probably would. With the increasing rate of consumers like myself,…
DetailsDuring a week-long data sprint at the University of Amsterdam between 28 March and 1 April 2022, we set out to study how human-nature relations were (re)imagined during the first global COVID-19 lockdown across five major social media platforms: Twitter, Reddit, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok . We analyzed the stance, affect, focus, and visual style…
DetailsThis post was written by Peter Safronov Affective valences of AI-assisted communication When dealing with algorithms, users frequently imbue them with affective valences (Bucher, 2017). People, for example, become emotionally invested while interacting with chatbots, much as they would with a human (Araujo, 2018). AI-powered technologies provide personalized experiences suited to the user’s specific wants…
DetailsThis post was written by Claire van den Helder How do international students in Amsterdam use Instagram to navigate their new social surroundings, and how do the perils and joys of curating messages shape their self-development? The project “On Display” seeks to understand how users craft and negotiate their Instagram presence by doing in-depth interviews…
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