Out of sight, out of mind? (In)visibility of/in platform-mediated work

Abstract

With platforms accounting for 1–3% of paid work in advanced economies, discussions on their impact on labor are proliferating. Focusing on commercial platforms providing intermediation to a workforce available on-demand, we further systematize the field by approaching platform-mediated work through the lens of (in)visibility. We map four basic forms of platform-mediated work against three variations of (in)visibility: (1) perceptible, (2) institutional, and (3) individual, and discuss the implications through the stories of three protagonists of platform workers. The suggested meta-analysis tool for understanding the mechanism of rendering platform workers obscure exposes who is recognized as a worker, what is recognized as work, and how these questions are negotiated in a platform-mediated digital space. As such, the framework provides a joint space for the discussions of the core issues of the field—from regulation and uncertainties of platform employment, through exacerbating vulnerabilities of workers, to surveillance and self-governance.

Workers’ visibility and union organizing in the UK videogames industry

“…Many of the oft-cited examples of workers' protesting in the digital entertainment sector are concerned with their visibility, for instance with gaining recognition and being credited in the final product, or keeping a position of anonymity when expressing discontent (Deuze et al, 2007). By putting the notion of visibility as a key methodological concern, the article contributes to a broader debate on (in)visibility and labor in the digital age (see Cherry, 2016;Gruszka & Böhm, 2020;Petre et al, 2019;Ticona & Mateescu, 2018;Uldam, 2017;Whiting & Symon, 2020). The article builds from the questions raised by previous researchers and investigates a unique case study of workers' collective organizing and their counter-strategies to tackle the issues that affect their workplace, while dealing with varied approaches to the production, distribution, and promotion of their work via platforms and social media.…”

Lifting the curtain: Strategic visibility of human labour in AI-as-a-Service

“…Researchers have questioned whether these interstitial tasks, filling the gaps in AI production, will be left to low-skilled and low-income workers (Celentano, 2019; Tubaro and Casilli, 2019). Platform interfaces, between vendors and data workers, in particular enable ‘entrepreneurs to imagine workers in a better place than they actually are’ (Gruszka and Böhm, 2020: 4).…”

Introduction: Janus meets Proteus in the platform economy

“…Surprisingly, despite its digital character and recording of the employment relationship in this type of economy, not much is known about its prevalence. Digital labour platforms are mostly not obliged to be transparent about their workforce, while platform workers are a hard-to-reach population as platform work is largely 'invisible' (see also Gruszka and Böhm 2020;Mateescu and Ticona 2021) or underreported by the workers themselves for tax or other reasons. Dedicated surveys by private or official statistical agencies are still in their infancy and thus of an explorative nature.…”