DIGITAL PLATFORMS & THE TRANSFORMATION OF LABOR

Dr. Blake Hallinan

Time: Monday 1700-1845

Contact: blake.hallinan@mail.huji.ac.il

Room: 26303

Office Hours: Monday 1545-1645, Vitamin Coffee (Social Sciences)

Email Policy: 24-hour response time, Sunday – Thursday

Digital platforms are changing how people work. These transformations include the creation of new types
of work, from the highly-visible careers of streamers and social media influencers to the less visible jobs
of content moderation and training machine learning models, as well as new forms of algorithmic
management for gig workers (e.g., Wolt, Uber) and new forms of value generation enabled by the sharing
economy (e.g., AirBnB). Social media platforms are also challenging our understanding of what counts as
work, prompting scholars to debate whether the generation of content or even behavioral data should be
classified as a form of labor. This course critically examines these developments, assessing how different
types of platform labor create opportunities for worker empowerment and vulnerabilities to harm. This
course also analyzes forms of labor organization associated with platform work, from ad-hoc strategies of
resistance to algorithmic management to the formation of unions.

Requirements
● Attendance & Active Participation

Grading
● Reading Quotes (10%)
● Reading Presentation (10%)
● Labor Platform Report (20%)
● Social Media Platform Report (20%)
● Final Paper (40%)
Course Topics

06.05.24 - What is platform labor?

13.05.24 - No class (Independence Day)
20.05.24 - Platformization + Precarity

Labor platforms
27.05.24 - Gig labor
03.06.24 - Labor platform governance
10.06.24 - Labor platform inequalities
17.06.24 - Labor platform strategies

Social media platforms

24.06.24 - Creator labor
01.07.24 - Social media platform governance
08.07.24 - Social media platform inequalities
15.07.24 - Social media platform strategies

22.07.24 - Final paper workshop

Readings

To facilitate discussion, you are expected to be familiar with the required readings assigned for
each class. All required readings are available on Moodle. The syllabus also includes optional
readings connected to the theme of each class. Optional readings are intended for students who are
interested in a particular topic and provide a starting point for developing presentations and
papers.

Reading quotes (10% of grade)

In addition to participating in class discussions, you are expected to post one quote from the
required reading and a sentence explaining why you found the quote interesting to the Moodle
forum before the start of each class. These posts are graded on completion and I may ask you to
share your quote during class.

Reading presentation (10% of grade)

Students will sign up to present one of the optional readings during the semester. This presentation
should be between 5-10 minutes and address the following points:

● The main argument of the reading

● Key concepts, findings, and/or quotes
● Connection to the required reading

Your presentation should have a visual aid to help organize your points (e.g., slides, a printed
handout), but you will not be graded on its design.

Labor platform report (20% of grade)

You will select one labor platform (e.g., ocation-based service like Wolt or cloud-based service like
Fiverr) and write a short report about labor conditions focused on one of the themes of the class
(platform governance, inequalities, or worker strategies). Your report should be approximately 750
words and should include at least two sources: one from the class readings and one external source.

Due 24.06.24 on Moodle.

Social media platform report (20% of grade)

You will select one social media platform and write a short report about labor conditions focused
on one of the themes of the class (platform governance, inequalities, or worker strategies). Your
report should be approximately 750 words and should include at least two sources: one from the
class readings and one external source.

Due 22.07.24 on Moodle.

Final paper (40% of grade)

You will select one of two options for your final paper: either A) an essay or B) a research proposal.
Regardless of which option you choose, your final paper should be approximately 2,500 words and
include 5 academic sources (3 from the class, 2 external sources).

A) Essay option: Write an argument about the conditions of platform labor that addresses at
least one of the themes of the class (platform governance, inequalities, or worker
strategies). You are welcome to build on one of your research reports or compare the
conditions between digital labor and social media platforms. You should have a clear thesis
statement and use supporting evidence from existing research or empirical cases (e.g., a
forum post or a lawsuit)
B) Research proposal option: Write a proposal for a research paper that investigates conditions
of platform labor related to at least one of the themes of the class (platform governance,
inequalities, or worker strategies). Typically, research proposals should have an
introduction, literature review, research question (or questions), methodology section, and a
brief discussion of expected findings. You may use any relevant research methodology. This
option is required if you plan to write a seminar paper for the class.

Due 08.08.24 on Moodle.

06.05.24 - What is platform labor?

Optional Readings:
● Warin, Robbie. “An Incomplete Prediction.” Fairwork Podcast, November 2022.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6JQhvcPzgaA2oxl0kKtUSx?si=38ce311405f4451e.
● Graham, Mark, and Mohammad Amir Anwar. “The Global Gig Economy: Towards a Planetary
Labour Market?” First Monday (2019). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v24i4.9913.
● Hund, Emily. “The Birth of the Contemporary Influencer Industry.” In The Influencer
Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media, 23–35. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press, 2023.

20.05.24 - Platformization + Precarity

Required Readings:
● Poell, Thomas, David Nieborg, and José van Dijck. “Platformisation.” Internet Policy Review 8,
no. 4 (2019): 1-13. https://doi.org/10.14763/2019.4.1425.
● Millar, Kathleen M. “Toward a Critical Politics of Precarity.” Sociology Compass 11, no. 6
(2017): 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12483.

Optional Readings:
● Duffy, Brooke Erin. “Algorithmic Precarity in Cultural Work.” Communication and the Public
5, no. 3–4 (2020): 103–7. https://doi.org/10.1177/2057047320959855.
● Neilson, Brett, and Ned Rossiter. “Precarity as a Political Concept, or, Fordism as Exception.”
Theory, Culture & Society 25, no. 7–8 (2008): 51–72.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276408097796.

27.05.24 - Gig labor

Required Readings:
● Ticona, Julia, Alexandra Mateescu, and Alex Rosenblat. “Beyond Disruption: How Tech
Shapes Labor across Domestic Work & Ridehailing.” Data & Society, June 27, 2018.
https://datasociety.net/library/beyond-disruption/.
● Muldoon, James, Callum Cant, Boxi Wu, and Mark Graham. “A Typology of Artificial
Intelligence Data Work.” Big Data & Society 11, no. 1 (March 2024).
https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517241232632.
Optional Readings:
● Bosma, Jelke R. “Platformed Professionalization: Labor, Assets, and Earning a Livelihood
through Airbnb.” Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 54, no. 4 (2022):
595–610. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X211063492.
● Weigel, Moira. “Amazon’s Trickle-Down Monopoly: Third-Party Sellers and the
Transformation of Small Business.” SSRN Electronic Journal, 2023.
https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4317167.

03.06.24 - Labor platform governance

Required Readings:
● Vallas, Steven, and Juliet B. Schor. “What Do Platforms Do? Understanding the Gig Economy.”
Annual Review of Sociology 46, no. 1 (2020): 273–94.
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-121919-054857.

Optional Readings:
● Chan, Ngai Keung. “Algorithmic Precarity and Metric Power: Managing the Affective
Measures and Customers in the Gig Economy.” Big Data & Society 9, no. 2 (2022): 1-13.
https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517221133779.
● Berg, Janine. “An International Governance System for Digital Work in the Planetary Market.”
In Digital Work in the Planetary Market, edited by Mark Graham and Fabian Ferrari, 283–90.
The MIT Press, 2022. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/13835.003.0022.

10.06.24 - Labor platform inequalities

Required Readings:
● Fiers, Floor. “Inequality and Discrimination in the Online Labor Market: A Scoping Review.”
New Media & Society 25, no. 12 (December 2023): 3714–34.
https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448221151200.
● Rosenblat, Alex, Karen E.C. Levy, Solon Barocas, and Tim Hwang. “Discriminating Tastes:
Uber’s Customer Ratings as Vehicles for Workplace Discrimination: Customer Ratings and
Workplace Discrimination.” Policy & Internet 9, no. 3 (2017): 256–79.
https://doi.org/10.1002/poi3.153.

Optional Readings:
● Doorn, Niels van. “Platform Labor: On the Gendered and Racialized Exploitation of
Low-Income Service Work in the ‘on-Demand’ Economy.” Information, Communication &
Society 20, no. 6 (2017): 898–914. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2017.1294194.
 ● Graham, Mark, Isis Hjorth, and Vili Lehdonvirta. “Digital Labor and Development: Impacts of
Global Digital Labor Platforms and the Gig Economy on Worker Livelihoods.” In Digital
Economies at Global Margins, edited by Mark Graham, 269–94. The MIT Press, 2019.
https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10890.001.0001.

17.06.24 - Labor platform strategies

Required Readings:
● Bucher, Eliane Léontine, Peter Kalum Schou, and Matthias Waldkirch. “Pacifying the
Algorithm – Anticipatory Compliance in the Face of Algorithmic Management in the Gig
Economy.” Organization 28, no. 1 (2021): 44–67.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508420961531.

Optional Readings:
● Yu, Zizheng, Emiliano Treré, and Tiziano Bonini. “The Emergence of Algorithmic Solidarity:
Unveiling Mutual Aid Practices and Resistance among Chinese Delivery Workers.” Media
International Australia 183, no. 1 (2022): 107–23.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X221074793.
● Irani, Lilly C., and M. Six Silberman. “Turkopticon: Interrupting Worker Invisibility in
Amazon Mechanical Turk.” In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in
Computing Systems, 611–20. Paris, France: ACM, 2013.
https://doi.org/10.1145/2470654.2470742.
● Posada, Julian. “Embedded Reproduction in Platform Data Work.” Information,
Communication & Society 25, no. 6 (April 26, 2022): 816–34.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2022.2049849.

24.06.24 - Creator labor

Required Reading:
● Cunningham, Stuart, and David Craig. “Creator Labor.” In Social Media Entertainment: The
New Intersection of Hollywood and Silicon Valley, 65–114. New York: New York University
Press, 2019.
Optional Readings:
● Johnson, Mark R., and Jamie Woodcock. “‘And Today’s Top Donator Is’: How Live Streamers
on Twitch.Tv Monetize and Gamify Their Broadcasts.” Social Media + Society 5, no. 4 (2019):
1-11. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305119881694.
● Barbetta, Tommaso. “Ghosts of YouTube: Rules and Conventions in Japanese YouTube
Content Creation Outsourcing.” Policy & Internet 14, no. 3 (September 2022): 633–50.
https://doi.org/10.1002/poi3.323.
● Easterbrook-Smith, Gwyn. “OnlyFans as Gig-Economy Work: A Nexus of Precarity and
Stigma.” Porn Studies. Online first (2022): 1–16.
https://doi.org/10.1080/23268743.2022.2096682.

Assignment:
● Turn in Labor Platform Report to Moodle 24.06.24

01.07.24 - Social media platform governance

Required Readings:
● Shapiro, Aaron, Courtlyn Pippert, Jacob Kenton Smith, and Zari A. Taylor. “Patrons of
Commerce: Asymmetrical Reciprocity and Moral Economies of Platform Power.”
Information, Communication & Society, April 4, 2024, 1–22.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2024.2331753.

Optional Readings:
● Caplan, Robyn, and Tarleton Gillespie. “Tiered Governance and Demonetization: The Shifting
Terms of Labor and Compensation in the Platform Economy.” Social Media + Society 6, no. 2
(2020): 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305120936636.
● Xu, Jian, Lina Qu, and Ge Zhang. “Governing Social Eating ( Chibo ) Influencers: Policies,
Approach and Politics of Influencer Governance in China.” Policy & Internet 14, no. 3
(September 2022): 525–40. https://doi.org/10.1002/poi3.318.
● Goanta, Catalina, and Sofia Ranchordás. “The Regulation of Social Media Influencers: An
Introduction.” In The Regulation of Social Media Influencers, edited by Catalina Goanta and
Sofia Ranchordás. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788978286.00008.
08.07.24 - Social media platform inequalities

Required Reading:
● Bidav, Tugce, and Smith Mehta. “Peripheral Creator Cultures in India, Ireland, and Turkey.”
Social Media + Society 10, no. 1 (January 2024).
https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051241234693.

Optional Readings:
● Johnson, Mark R. “Inclusion and Exclusion in the Digital Economy: Disability and Mental
Health as a Live Streamer on Twitch.Tv.” Information, Communication & Society 22, no. 4
(2019): 506–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2018.1476575.
● Are, Carolina, and Pam Briggs. “The Emotional and Financial Impact of De-Platforming on
Creators at the Margins.” Social Media + Society 9, no. 1 (2023): 1-12.
https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231155103.
● Duffy, Brooke Erin, and Colten Meisner. “Platform Governance at the Margins: Social Media
Creators’ Experiences with Algorithmic (in)Visibility.” Media, Culture & Society 45, no. 2
(2023): 285–304. https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437221111923.

15.07.24 - Social media platform strategies

Required Reading:
● Stegeman, Hanne M., Carolina Are, and Thomas Poell. “Strategic Invisibility: How Creators
Manage the Risks and Constraints of Online Hyper(In)Visibility.” Social Media + Society 10,
no. 2 (April 2024): 20563051241244674. https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051241244674.
● Ørmen, Jacob, and Andreas Gregersen. “Institutional Polymorphism: Diversification of
Content and Monetization Strategies on YouTube.” Television & New Media 24, no. 4 (July 11,
2022): 363–473. https://doi.org/10.1177/15274764221110198.

Optional Readings:
● O’Meara, Victoria. “Weapons of the Chic: Instagram Influencer Engagement Pods as Practices
of Resistance to Instagram Platform Labor.” Social Media + Society 5, no. 4 (2019): 1-11.
https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305119879671.
● Miller, Vincent, and Eddy Hogg. “‘If You Press This, I’ll Pay’: MrBeast, YouTube, and the
Mobilisation of the Audience Commodity in the Name of Charity.” Convergence: The
International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies 29, no. 4 (March 8, 2023):
997–1014. https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565231161810.
 ● Hallinan, Blake. “No Judgment: Value Optimization and the Reinvention of Reviewing on
YouTube.” Edited by Teresa Correa. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 28, no. 5
(August 4, 2023): zmad034. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmad034.

22.07.24 - Final paper workshops

No Required Readings
● Bring in a printed copy of your Labor Platform report and Social Media Platform report to
class for the final paper workshop

Assignment:

Turn in Social Media Platform Report to Mooodle 22.07.24