Izvestiya of Saratov University.

Philosophy. Psychology. Pedagogy

ISSN 1819-7671 (Print)
ISSN 2542-1948 (Online)


Full text:
(downloads: 17)
Language: 
Russian
Heading: 
Article type: 
Article
UDC: 
101.1:316

The agency of digital platforms: A value-based approach

Autors: 
Shatkin Maxim Alexandrovich, Saratov State University
Abstract: 

Introduction. A lack of current approaches to the study of digital platforms is ignoring the internal logic of their functioning, which determines their social agency, as well as the value foundations of this agency. The aim of this work is a socio-philosophical analysis of the agency of digital platforms through the lens of the value approach. Theoretical analysis. Specificity of social reality of platforms is their dependence on the generation of content by users, so the main value for platforms is users’ productivity, and the content of platforms’ agency is keeping users in the role of content producers. To realize this value, platforms’ agency is manifested in a narrativization strategy that focuses on keeping users as “storytellers” as stories are the most successfully consumed content, with short-term storytelling and live-action mechanisms providing additional value to content. In the long term, this strategy transforms the notion of sociality, which comes down to narrative productivity, with the ultimate goal of generating material for artificial intelligence training, the goal of which could be to create a metanarrative that reveals the value of each individual user’s productivity. Conclusion. Today, the agency of platforms is manifested in understanding sociality as narrative productivity, which provides, firstly, the maintenance of the business model of platforms and, secondly, the creation of sufficient data for learning promising artificial intelligence systems.

Reference: 
  1. Castells M., ed. The Network Society: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. North Hampton, MA Edgar Elgar, 2004. 464 p.
  2. Van Dijck J., Poell T., De Waal M. The platform society: Public values in a connective world. Oxford University Press, 2018. 240 p.
  3. Cusumano M. A., Gawer A., Yoffi e D. B. The Business of Platforms: Strategy in the Age of Digital Competition, Innovation and Power. Harper Business, 2019. 320 p.
  4. Tabares R. HTML5 and the evolution of HTML; tracing the origins of digital platforms. Technology in Society, 2021, vol. 65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2021.101529
  5. Van Es K., Poell T. Platform Imaginaries and Dutch Public Service Media. Social Media + Society, 2020, vol. 6, iss. 2. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305120933289
  6. Petre C., Duffy B. E., Hund E. “Gaming the System”: Platform Paternalism and the Politics of Algorithmic Visibility. Social Media+Society, 2019, vol. 5, iss. 4. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305119879995
  7. Murdock G. Reclaiming digital space. From commercial enclosure to the broadcast commons. G. F. Lowe, H. Van den Bulck, K. Donders, eds. Public service media in the networked society. Gothenburg, Nordicom, 2018, pp. 4–58.
  8. Bruner J. Actual Minds, Possible Worlds. Harvard University Press, 1987. 222 p.
Received: 
12.12.2021
Accepted: 
25.03.2022
Published: 
30.09.2022