Platform capitalism

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Platform capitalism refers to the activities of companies such as Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Uber, Airbnb, Amazon and others to operate as platforms. In this business model both hardware and software are used as a foundation (platform) for other actors to conduct their own business. [1] [2]

Platform capitalism has been both heralded as beneficial [3] and denounced as detrimental [4] by various authors. The trends identified in platform capitalism have similarities with those described under the heading of surveillance capitalism. [5] Technology companies build platforms that entire industries rely on, and those industries can easily collapse due to the decisions of those technology companies. [6]

The possible effect of platform capitalism on open science has been discussed. [7]

Platform capitalism has been contrasted with platform cooperativism. Companies that try to focus on fairness and sharing, instead of just profit motive, are described as cooperatives, whereas more traditional and common companies that focus solely on profit, like Airbnb and Uber, are platform capitalists (or cooperativist platforms vs capitalist platforms). In turn, projects like Wikipedia, which rely on unpaid labor of volunteers, can be classified as commons-based peer-production initiatives. [8] :31,36

See also

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Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price systems, private property, property rights recognition, voluntary exchange, and wage labor. In a market economy, decision-making and investments are determined by owners of wealth, property, or ability to maneuver capital or production ability in capital and financial markets—whereas prices and the distribution of goods and services are mainly determined by competition in goods and services markets.

Eco-capitalism, also known as environmental capitalism or (sometimes) green capitalism, is the view that capital exists in nature as "natural capital" on which all wealth depends. Therefore, governments should use market-based policy-instruments to resolve environmental problems.

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Social peer-to-peer processes are interactions among humans with a peer-to-peer dynamic. Peer-to-peer (P2P) is a term that originated from the popular concept of the P2P distributed computer application architecture which partitions tasks or workloads between peers. This application structure was popularized by file sharing systems like Napster, the first of its kind in the late 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criticism of capitalism</span> Arguments against the economic system of capitalism

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An online marketplace is a type of e-commerce website where product or service information is provided by multiple third parties. Online marketplaces are the primary type of multichannel ecommerce and can be a way to streamline the production process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shoshana Zuboff</span> American scholar (born 1951)

Shoshana Zuboff is an American author, professor, social psychologist, philosopher, and scholar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airbnb</span> Online platform for rental accommodations

Airbnb, Inc. is an American company operating an online marketplace for short- and long-term homestays and experiences. The company acts as a broker and charges a commission from each booking. The company was founded in 2008 by Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk, and Joe Gebbia. Airbnb is a shortened version of its original name, AirBedandBreakfast.com. Airbnb is the most well-known company for short-term housing rentals.

The sharing economy is a socio-economic system whereby consumers share in the creation, production, distribution, trade and consumption of goods, and services. These systems take a variety of forms, often leveraging information technology and the Internet, particularly digital platforms, to facilitate the distribution, sharing and reuse of excess capacity in goods and services.

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A platform cooperative, or platform co-op, is a cooperatively owned, democratically governed business that establishes a two-sided market via a computing platform, website, mobile app or a protocol to facilitate the sale of goods and services. Platform cooperatives are an alternative to venture capital-funded platforms insofar as they are owned and governed by those who depend on them most—workers, users, and other relevant stakeholders.

Surveillance capitalism is a concept in political economics which denotes the widespread collection and commodification of personal data by corporations. This phenomenon is distinct from government surveillance, although the two can be mutually reinforming. The concept of surveillance capitalism, as described by Shoshana Zuboff, is driven by a profit-making incentive, and arose as advertising companies, led by Google's AdWords, saw the possibilities of using personal data to target consumers more precisely.

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Big Tech, also known as the Tech Giants, are the largest information technology (IT) companies. The concept of Big Tech is similar to the grouping of dominant companies in other economic sectors. It generally includes the Big Five tech companies in the United States: Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft. It can also include tech companies with high valuations, such as Netflix and Nvidia, or companies outside the IT sector, such as Tesla. Groupings of these companies include the Big Four, Big Five, and Magnificent Seven. Big Tech can also include Chinese companies such as Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, and Xiaomi (BATX).

Network Orchestrator Companies are defined as:

... companies [that] create a network of peers in which the participants interact and share in the value creation. They may sell products or services, build relationships, share advice, give reviews, collaborate, co-create and more. Examples include eBay, Red Hat, Visa, Uber, Tripadvisor, and Alibaba.

Authoritarian capitalism, or illiberal capitalism, is an economic system in which a capitalist market economy exists alongside an authoritarian government. Related to and overlapping with state capitalism, a system in which the state undertakes commercial activity, authoritarian capitalism combines private property and the functioning of market forces with repression of dissent, restrictions on freedom of speech and either a lack of elections or an electoral system with a single dominant political party.

<i>The Age of Surveillance Capitalism</i> Book published in 2018

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power is a 2018 non-fiction book by Shoshana Zuboff which looks at the development of digital companies like Google and Amazon, and suggests that their business models represent a new form of capitalist accumulation that she calls "surveillance capitalism".

A digital platform is a software-based online infrastructure that facilitates user interactions and transactions.

References

  1. N. Srnicek, Platform Capitalism. Wiley, 2016.
  2. L. Weatherby, "Delete Your Account: On the Theory of Platform Capitalism," Los Angeles Review of Books, 2018.
  3. A. McAfee and E. Brynjolfsson, Machine, platform, crowd : harnessing our digital future. W. W. Norton and Company, 2017.
  4. J. Lanier, Ten arguments for deleting your social media accounts right now. Henry Holt and Co., 2018.
  5. S. Zuboff, The age of surveillance capitalism: the fight for a human future at the new frontier of power. PublicAffairs, 2019.
  6. Herrman, John (28 April 2023). "The news went viral: The media bet its future on Facebook". Intelligencer. New York City: Vox Media. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  7. P. Mirowski, "The future(s) of open science," Soc. Stud. Sci., vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 171–203, Apr. 2018.
  8. Dariusz Jemielniak; Aleksandra Przegalinska (18 February 2020). Collaborative Society. MIT Press. ISBN   978-0-262-35645-9.