Ratings and rankings: the consumption-work link in the platform economy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22325/fes/res.2023.174Keywords:
Consumption, algorithmic management, organization, platform, sociomaterialityAbstract
The sociology of platforms has pointed out that the consolidation of online business models relies on the establishment of a specific link between an increasingly individualized consumer culture and a kind of work configured and managed by the platforms for their own benefit. This thesis, however, does not consider the role of rating and ranking systems in the relationship between consumption and work. In this paper we argue that ratings and rankings mediate this link between consumption and work, setting specific information asymmetries and dependency and power relations between them and with the platform. Moreover, under certain conditions, the rating and ranking system allows platform workers to elaborate strategies of resistance to the algorithm and to reformulate their relationship with the consumer.
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