scholarly journals IN(TER)DEPENDENCE IN PLATFORMED CREATION

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angele L Christin ◽  
Christopher Persaud ◽  
David Hesmondhalgh ◽  
Michael Siciliano ◽  
Nancy Baym ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Production ◽  
Book Publishing ◽  
Cultural Industries ◽  
Close Attention ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Digital World ◽  
Modern Capitalism ◽  
Art Works ◽  
Online Audiences

In recent years, a variety of cultural industries have been transformed by platformization – a process in which technology companies serve as intermediaries connecting different parties (most importantly cultural producers and audiences) through websites and applications. From music to book publishing, movie production, and the visual arts, cultural production has undergone massive changes due to platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Goodreads, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Etsy, etc. In most cultural sectors, creators now have to grapple with the platforms that make their work visible to online audiences. This often means paying close attention to the quantitative infrastructure of platforms, namely their algorithms and analytics, which drive visibility and commercial success. This panel examines what these economic and technological changes imply for the independence of cultural production. Classical studies of culture often emphasized the role that the values of independence and autonomy play in shaping artists’ worldviews and practices. From Bourdieu’s analysis of “fields of cultural production” as “the economic world reversed” to Becker’s theory of “art worlds” where internal dynamics redefine external constraints, or the Frankfurt School’s critical take on the demise of aura through mechanical reproduction, sociological approaches have paid close attention to the threats to independence emerging under modern capitalism. In fact, most classical sociology saw cultural producers in the mass cultural industries as having little independence, often assuming (sometimes without empirical research) that the massification of culture would destroy original and critical art works. Here we revisit the question of independence in the context of platformed creation – a term that embraces all forms of cultural production that are mediated, in part or completely, through digital platforms. By bringing together scholars studying different aspects of platformed creation and reflecting on the concept of independence through diverse disciplinary lenses, we ask: what does independence look like in the context of platformed creation? What are some of the theoretical and methodological tools available to scholars for making sense of cultural, economic, and technological independence in the case of platformed creation? And how do these evolving forms of independence affect the kinds of art works and cultural tropes that circulate online? These different studies aim to put the concept of independence in dialogue with the question of interdependence (among cultural producers, audiences, and platforms) in a mediated digital world.

scholarly journals ANALYZING PLATFORM POWER IN THE CULTURAL INDUSTRIES

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Nieborg ◽  
Thomas Poell ◽  
Brooke Erin Duffy
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Production ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
Power Relationship ◽  
Cultural Industries ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Business Studies ◽  
Software Studies ◽  
Political Economic

Across cultures and contexts, digital platforms like YouTube, TikTok/Douyin, WeChat, and Spotify are fundamentally reshaping both the processes and products of cultural production—from music and news to entertainment and advertising. But, despite considerable attention to the perverse power of algorithms in various spheres of social and economic life, we contend that existing political economic frameworks fail to account for the distinctiveness of the cultural industries. Challenging essentialist theories of platform dominance, this paper argues that claims of platform power need to be qualified in the context of industry- and culture-specific inquiries. Building on research in science and technology studies (STS), software studies, political economy, business studies, and media industries studies, the paper presents a new analytical framework to analyse the evolving power relationship between platforms and cultural producers. It is argued that the decision space of cultural producers in their role as platform complementors is shaped by three key variables: 1) platform evolution, 2) cultural industry segments, and 3) stages of production. The proposed framework makes clear that, while the relationship between platforms and cultural producers is staggeringly uneven and, at times, highly volatile, it should be understood as one of mutual dependence. That is, platforms exert mechanisms of power over the phases of the creation, distribution, monetization, and marketing of culture; but they also furnish space for negotiation and contestation. Acknowledging this requires a framework that is less deterministic and sensitive to the nuance inherent in cultural production.

scholarly journals The Nested Precarities of Creative Labor on Social Media

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 205630512110213
Author(s):  
Brooke Erin Duffy ◽  
Annika Pinch ◽  
Shruti Sannon ◽  
Megan Sawey
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Cultural Production ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Creative Economy ◽  
Cultural Industries ◽  
Professional Success ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The Media ◽  
Depth Interviews

While metrics have long played an important, albeit fraught, role in the media and cultural industries, quantified indices of online visibility—likes, favorites, subscribers, and shares—have been indelibly cast as routes to professional success and status in the digital creative economy. Against this backdrop, this study sought to examine how creative laborers’ pursuit of social media visibility impacts their processes and products. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with 30 aspiring and professional content creators on a range of social media platforms—Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, and Twitter—we contend that their experiences are not only shaped by the promise of visibility, but also by its precarity. As such, we present a framework for assessing the volatile nature of visibility in platformized creative labor, which includes unpredictability across three levels: (1) markets, (2) industries, and (3) platform features and algorithms. After mapping out this ecological model of the nested precarities of visibility, we conclude by addressing both continuities with—and departures from—the earlier modes of instability that characterized cultural production, with a focus on the guiding logic of platform capitalism.

scholarly journals ‘What Difference does it Make? Women's Pop Cultural Production and Consumption in Manchester’

2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Richards ◽  
Katie Milestone
Keyword(s):  
Popular Music ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Cultural Production ◽  
Consumption Patterns ◽  
Cultural Industries ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
Gender Characteristics ◽  
Gender Power ◽  
The City ◽  
Experiences Of Women

This paper explores the experiences of women in small cultural businesses and is based upon interviews with women working in a range of contexts in Manchester's popular music sector. The research seeks to promote wider consideration of women's roles in cultural production and consumption. We argue that it is necessary that experiences of production and consumption be understood as inter-related processes. Each part of this process is imbued with particular gender characteristics that can serve to reinforce existing patterns and hierarchies. We explore the ways in which female leisure and consumption patterns have been marginalised and how this in turn shapes cultural production. This process influences career choices but it is also reinforced through the integration of consumption into the cultural workplace. Practices often associated with the sector, such as the blurring of work and leisure and ‘networking’, appear to be understood and operated in significantly different ways by women. As cultural industries such as popular music are predicated upon the colonisation of urban space we explore the use of the city and the particular character of Manchester's music scene. We conclude that, despite the existence of highly contingent and individualised identities, significant gender power relations remain evident. These are particularly clear in discussion of the performative and sexualised aspects of the job.

Factors affecting institutional repository adoption among research scientists and related stakeholder for digital scholarship : roadmap towards research visibility and collaboration in Ghana

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kodjo Atiso
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Research Community ◽  
Institutional Repository ◽  
Culturally Appropriate ◽  
University Of Missouri ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Digital World ◽  
Research Scientists

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This dissertation is a qualitative study of institutional repository (IR) adoption among research scientists (RS) in Ghana. In view of the importance of this platform, which is used to disseminate and promote scholarship in the digital age. This work aims at understanding the factors affecting its adoption, which could potentially create the baseline for developing a culturally appropriate IR for the Ghanaian research community. It has been argued that scientific research on the African continent is lagging behind other regions in the world, and in order to increase research visibility, more resources will have to be provided for research and dissemination. One such resource for disseminating scholarship is the IR. IRs are emerging digital platforms that showcase the research capability of universities and research organizations. IRs are increasing in visibility within academic circles around the globe, and they have potential to benefit Ghana. In the digital world, IRs are important for scholarship in order to ensure visibility of local content and to build a community of researchers. They also have potential to enable the research community to overcome access restrictions due to hikes in journal prices leading to inability of libraries to subscribe to them. In Ghana, acceptance and adoption of IR among RS is minimal, in spite of the potential benefits that come with such adoption. A critical review of the literature indicates that technology developers do not attend to users' attitudes and behavioral factors pertaining to different environments to the same extent that they invest in the technology. As a consequence, new technologies sometimes fail to meet users' expectations. Technology serves different purposes in diverse communities and the need to include the community user group at the outset of its development cannot be underestimated. This qualitative study aims at investigating the factors affecting IR adoption among research scientists in Ghana. Three qualitative methods were used, 1) document review, 2) observation, and 3) in-depth interviews with three groups of participants: the heads of institute research libraries (librarians), directors (administrators) of the institutes, and RS who constitute the main users of institute libraries. The multiple methods of data collection were supported by systematic data analysis, allowing themes to emerge which were consistent with how participants view IRs in the scholarship process. The themes that emerged from the data illuminated users' perceptions and behavioral patterns affecting IR adoption among the research community in Ghana. The research findings generated seven general themes that reflected participants' perception of IRs. The first four were common to all participant types and were thus classified as major themes: (education and sensitization, collaboration and visibility, uninterrupted electricity supply and incentives). The last three were classified as minor themes, as they were particular to the different participation groups (data security for research scientists, funding for administrators and technology for librarians). Based on the findings, this study lays out recommendations for developing a culturally appropriate IR for one of Ghana's foremost research organization, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) researchers. Finally, this study recommends further investigation into IRs, which could lead to improved understanding of scholarly communication within the CSIR and also with possible extension to the entire research community in Ghana. In short, this study pieces together themes that lay out a possible roadmap for a culturally appropriate IR system, first for the CSIR scientific community and then for Ghana as a whole.

Identity and Social Peace in the Digital World

2018 ◽  
pp. 116-126
Author(s):  
Murat Seyfi
Keyword(s):  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Multiple Intelligence ◽  
National Identities ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Organic Structure ◽  
Digital World ◽  
The World ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Digital Identities

The concept of identity is changing and developing with digitalization. Macro and national identities, which are the basis of conflicts in the world, have started to decrease and lose their importance against micro-identities introduced by digitalization. This forms the basis of re-shaping the concept of power in the world. Digital identities play a key role in sustaining conflicts and peace in this new balance of power. With digitalization, individuals get numerous identities and have the opportunity to form a joint identity with other individuals and groups at a micro level. These new identities formed in micro level against macro identities are becoming an organic structure that has horizontal and vertical components in order to establish peace in the world by creating time, place and memories. This enables the concept of peace to have multiple intelligence in digital platforms. The aim of this study is to search the power and effect of micro-identities which are formed in virtual platforms and in the process of building social peace in the digital world.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Colin Foss
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Cultural Production ◽  
Book Publishing ◽  
Limited Resources ◽  
French History ◽  
Personal Writing ◽  
Paris Commune ◽  
The World ◽  
Commune Of 1871 ◽  
Bear Witness

While scholarly interest is often drawn to the more tumultuous Paris Commune of 1871, insistence on this moment of revolution and civil war obscures the specific stakes of the Siege of Paris, which was not as much a revolution as a moment of suspension in French history. Cut off from the rest of the world, Parisians were left to their own devices during the Siege. What resulted was a literary industry with few established authors present, limited resources, and enormous demand. Despite the circumstances, Parisians turned to literature to alleviate their isolation and bear witness to the unspeakable tragedy that surrounded them. The relative anonymity of Parisian literary production during the Siege has erroneously led to the conclusion that culture came to a standstill during this period. However, a closer look at literary institutions, which weathered the storm of national defeat remarkably well, shows that literature does not disappear in times of war: it simply changes form. The introduction defines the four major sites of cultural production and the networks that existed within and among them: theaters, newspapers, personal writing, and book publishing.

The Walkthrough Method

2022 ◽  
pp. 461-486
Author(s):  
Michela Cavagnuolo ◽  
Viviana Capozza ◽  
Alfredo Matrella
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Influences ◽  
Cultural Representations ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Important Place ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
The Social ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
New Research

Nowadays the social scientists are called to integrate within their studies new tools that modify and innovate the scientist's typical toolbox. Digital platforms, media, and especially apps pose further challenges to social scientists today, as they are an important place of significant socio-cultural, economic, health, relationships, and entertainment transformations. When studying digital technologies, in fact, it's important to pay attention to both their socio-cultural representations and technological aspects – since even design and data outputs have social and cultural influences. In this context, new research questions arise; among all the possible tools in the digital method toolbox, the walkthrough method is a noteworthy way to answer them. Starting from these considerations, this chapter aims to analyze, through a review of the literature, the birth and development of the walkthrough method in its various meanings to identify the innovative aspects and fields of application.

scholarly journals Bit by (Twitch) Bit: “Platform Capture” and the Evolution of Digital Platforms

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 205630512093398
Author(s):  
William Clyde Partin
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Production ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Management Service ◽  
Management Tools ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Business Studies ◽  
The Third ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Many

This article considers the history of donation management tools on the livestreaming platform Twitch. In particular, it details the technical and economic contexts that led to the development of Twitch Bits, a first-party donation management service introduced in 2016. Two contributions to research on the platformization of cultural production are made. One, this article expands the empirical record regarding Twitch by chronicling the role of viewer donations in livestreaming since 2010, as well as the many tools that have facilitated this practice. It is argued that this history traces the complex and co-productive interactions between Twitch as a sociotechnical architecture and a political economy. Two, by considering how the first-party donation tool Twitch Bits has gradually challenged the dominance of the third-party tools that preceded it, this article theorizes the notion of platform capture, a critical rereading of platform envelopment, a popular concept in business studies. Ultimately, it is argued that platform capture demonstrates how platform owners leverage power asymmetries over dependents to aid in their platform’s technical evolution.

scholarly journals Studying Platforms and Cultural Production: Methods, Institutions, and Practices

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 205630512094327
Author(s):  
David B Nieborg ◽  
Brooke Erin Duffy ◽  
Thomas Poell
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Production ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Cultural Industries ◽  
Media Industry ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Market Theory ◽  
Industry Studies ◽  
Production Methods ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Time Transformations

This introduction to the second special collection of articles on the platformization of the cultural industries foregrounds research methods and practices. Drawing from the 12 articles included in this collection, as well as the 14 articles published in the first collection, we identify commonalities in approaches, consistencies in traditions, and uniform modes of analysis. We argue that approaches that have been deployed in media industry studies for decades—semi-structured interviews, discourse analysis, content analysis, and participant observation—remain productive. At the same time, transformations in the temporalities and curation of cultural production require updated modes of investigation and analysis. As such, we spotlight contributors’ novel methods and innovative theoretical approaches, such as the walkthrough method and multi-sided market theory.

Resisting subalternity: Palestinian mimicry and passing in the Israeli cultural industries

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 1293-1308
Author(s):  
Amal Jamal ◽  
Noa Lavie
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Production ◽  
Cultural Industries ◽  
Media Industry ◽  
Full Compliance ◽  
Subaltern Agency ◽  
Common Notion ◽  
Creative Workers ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Common

This article explores the complexity of minority creative workers in the media industry. It challenges the common notion in the literature that minority creative workers are fully submissive to the dominant power structure and examines whether such workers could still be conceived as active agents by resisting submission and marginalization even when they cannot influence their own representation in hegemonic media texts. To answer this question, it explores the performances of minority creative workers in a hegemonic cultural industry. To determine whether one can speak of subaltern agency and, if possible, examine how it manifests itself in reality, it addresses the daily performances of Palestinian creative workers during the production of the second season of the Israeli television series, Fauda. Observations conducted during production demonstrate that since in such contexts minority creative workers cannot avoid being projected in negative roles in the media text, they adopt creative subversive practices of passing and transgressive mimicry, resisting full compliance with the production, without endangering their own position. By doing so, the article contributes not only to the emerging field of creative entrepreneurship in cultural production, but also enables determination of common practices of creative subversion in the cultural industries.

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