Recensão do Livro The Platform Economy: How Japan Transformed the Consumer Internet

Since around mid-2010s, “platform” companies such as Google, Amazon, and Uber have come under intense criticism. These tech giants from the Silicon Valley are problematic because their business model centers on secretive data surveillance and targeted marketing. They are socially irresponsible with tax evasions and liabilities for precarious labor. Their digital media imperialism is detrimental to the world for it undermines independent innovation at the national and local levels. The question is, can it be otherwise?  “Plataformas” digitais como Google, Amazon e Uber têm vindo a ser alvo de duras críticas desde meados da década de 2010. Estes gigantes tecnológicos de Silicon Valley são problemáticos, uma vez que os seus modelos de negócio se baseiam na vigilância secreta de dados e em marketing direcionado. A sua ausência de responsabilidade social traduz-se em evasão fiscal e trabalho precário. A sua natureza imperialista, enquanto media digital, é prejudicial porquanto mina a inovação independente, quer a nível nacional, quer a nível local. A questão que se coloca é, poderia ser de outra forma

Digital platforms in connected economy: discourse, control, consumption, and collaboration. Introductory note

English version: Saturnino, R. R., Sousa, H., & Qiu, J. L. (2021). Digital platforms in connected economy: Discourse, control, consumption, and collaboration. Introductory note. Comunicação e Sociedade, 39, 7-14. https://doi.org/10.17231/comsoc.39(2021).3431[Excerto] O volume 39 da revista Comunicação e Sociedade apresenta uma série de estudos sobre diferentes abordagens de utilização das plataformas digitais. Se por um lado, são interpretadas como um importante meio de consumo e espaço para o surgimento de práticas sociais colaborativas, por outro lado, também podem ser analisadas como novos mecanismos de vigilância e de produção de discursos performáticos numa economia cada vez mais conectada...[Excerpt] Volume 39 of Comunicação e Sociedade is dedicated to a series of studies from different approaches on the use of digital platforms. These platforms, on the one hand, are interpreted as an important means of consumption and arena for the emergence of collaborative social practices. On the other hand, they are also analysed as new mechanisms for surveillance and the production of performative discourses in an increasingly connected economy...Este trabalho é financiado por fundos nacionais através da FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., no âmbito do projeto UIDB/00736/2020. É ainda apoiado pela Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia – FCT pelo financiamento da pesquisa de Pós-doutoramento, referência: SFRH/BPD/115125/2016

Précarité, plateformes et agentivité : la multiplication des formes du travail en Chine

« Je veux qu’on me rende l’argent que j’ai gagné avec mon sang et ma sueur » (Wo yao wode xuehan qian 我要我的血汗錢) : voilà les paroles prononcées par Liu Jin 劉進, un coursier de 47 ans qui travaillait pour la plateforme de livraison de repas d’Alibaba Ele.me, avant de s’immoler par le feu au début du mois de janvier 2021. Ce drame qui a suscité des débats animés sur les réseaux sociaux chinois, est survenu après la mort d’un jeune homme de 22 ans employé chez Pinduoduo, une autre entreprise d’e-co..

Editorial – Precarity, Platforms, and Agency: The Multiplication of Chinese Labour

“I want my blood and sweat money back” (Wo yao wode xuehan qian 我要我的血汗錢): these are the words of Liu Jin 劉進, a 47-year-old delivery rider who worked for Ele.me, Alibaba’s food-delivery platform, when he set himself on fire in early January 2021. This tragic event, which sparked heated discussions on the Chinese social media, was preceded by the death of a 22-year-old employee at Pinduoduo, another e-commerce company claiming more than 700 million users in China. As the company announced it wo..

Ferments in the Field: Introductory Reflections on the Past, Present and Future of Communication Studies

Journal of Communication (JoC) published its special issue “Ferment in the Field” in 1983 (vol. 33, no. 3). Thirty-five years later there still is a great interest in discussing the origins, current state, and prospects of our field. This special issue titled Ferments in the Field: The Past, Present and Future of Communication Studies presents 20 articles, plus this introduction, with the intention to assess the field and provoke discussions about the status of communication studies. This introductory article provides an overview of the contributions and discusses major trends in communication studies that have shaped the field since the original “ferment” issue. They include: (a) communication studies on a global scale, (b) researching communication in the fast-changing digital media environment, (c) the importance of critical communication studies, (d) the new critical and materialist turn, and (e) praxis communication and ways to address power imbalance in knowledge production

Media, communication and the struggle for social progress

This article discusses the role of media and communications in contributing to social progress, as elaborated in a landmark international project ? the International Panel on Social Progress. First, it analyses how media and digital platforms have contributed to global inequality by examining media access and infrastructure across world regions. Second, it looks at media governance and the different mechanisms of corporatized control over media platforms, algorithms and content. Third, the article examines how the democratization of media is a key element in the struggle for social justice. It argues that effective media access ? in terms of distribution of media resources, even relations between spaces of connection and the design and operation of spaces that foster dialogue, free speech and respectful cultural exchange ? is a core component of social progress

The return of billiard balls? US-China tech war and China's state-directed digital capitalism

Media policy analysts of (neo)liberal persuasion have long seen China as an anomaly. This is, however, a narrow perspective, whose explanatory power pales facing the challenge of recent events. Drawing upon International Relations (IR) theories, this article reflects on the contradicting ideas of (neo)liberalism and (neo)realism in digital media policy, while examining US–China tech war and China’s state-directed platform capitalism. It argues that more attention should be paid to neorealist frameworks, especially Mearsheimer’s offensive realism, which sees the world as consisting of billiard balls bumping into each other, pursuing hegemony. How is offensive realism useful in helping understand recent events about China? How is it also limited? Are we returning to an era of billiard balls? What are the implications for digital media policy to transcend platform capitalism and approach platform socialism?.Nanyang Technological UniversityThis article was produced within the framework of the Jean Monnet Network on the European Media and Platforms Policy (EuromediApp), supported by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union (2021-23). The author also acknowledges the support from the Shaw Foundation Endowment at Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University