The Culture of Connectivity – van Dijck (2013)
Chapter 2: Disassembling Platforms, Reassembling Sociality
Introduction
The mutual shaping of microsystems and ecosystem constitutes the nucleus of this study.
Combining two approaches
ANT does not examine “the social” as such but aims to map relations between technologies
and people and tries to explain how these relations are both material and semiotic. Another
major asset of ANT is that it acknowledges both human and nonhuman actors whose
agencies help shape the interactive process, a process characterized by contingency and
interpretive flexibility. Platforms, in this view, would not be considered artifacts but rather a
set of relations that constantly need to be performed; actors of all kinds attribute meanings to
platforms.
Proponents of a political economy approach choose organizational (infra) structures as their
main focus: they regard platforms and digital networks as manifestations of power
relationships between institutional producers and individual consumers. Institutional actors
may involve governments or corporations engaged in economic schemes (takeovers,
mergers) or legal processes (lawsuits, regulation), but also political grassroots groups using
social media as a means to counter power. The struggle to dominate the realm of social
media is led by power holders called “programmers” - those who program networks and
platforms - and “switchers” -those who have the ability to connect and ensure cooperation of
different networks.
The focus of this book: understanding the coevolution of social media platforms and sociality
in the context of a rising culture of connectivity. Actor-network theory and the political
economy approach each by itself offer a partial analysis of the dynamic intricacies of
platforms. However, combining these perspectives and complementing this symbiosis with
several additional elements may help inform the multilayered model proposed in this book.
The first part of this model concentrates on the dissection of individual platforms
(microsystems) as both techno-cultural constructs and socioeconomic structures. Each level
will spotlight three constitutive elements or actors – elements systematically followed
throughout all case studies. Approaching platforms as sociotechnical constructs, we need to
analyze technology, users, and content in close alignment; highlighting plat- forms as
socioeconomic structures, we will scrutinize their ownership status, governance, and
business models.
1
Chapter 2: Disassembling Platforms, Reassembling Sociality
Introduction
The mutual shaping of microsystems and ecosystem constitutes the nucleus of this study.
Combining two approaches
ANT does not examine “the social” as such but aims to map relations between technologies
and people and tries to explain how these relations are both material and semiotic. Another
major asset of ANT is that it acknowledges both human and nonhuman actors whose
agencies help shape the interactive process, a process characterized by contingency and
interpretive flexibility. Platforms, in this view, would not be considered artifacts but rather a
set of relations that constantly need to be performed; actors of all kinds attribute meanings to
platforms.
Proponents of a political economy approach choose organizational (infra) structures as their
main focus: they regard platforms and digital networks as manifestations of power
relationships between institutional producers and individual consumers. Institutional actors
may involve governments or corporations engaged in economic schemes (takeovers,
mergers) or legal processes (lawsuits, regulation), but also political grassroots groups using
social media as a means to counter power. The struggle to dominate the realm of social
media is led by power holders called “programmers” - those who program networks and
platforms - and “switchers” -those who have the ability to connect and ensure cooperation of
different networks.
The focus of this book: understanding the coevolution of social media platforms and sociality
in the context of a rising culture of connectivity. Actor-network theory and the political
economy approach each by itself offer a partial analysis of the dynamic intricacies of
platforms. However, combining these perspectives and complementing this symbiosis with
several additional elements may help inform the multilayered model proposed in this book.
The first part of this model concentrates on the dissection of individual platforms
(microsystems) as both techno-cultural constructs and socioeconomic structures. Each level
will spotlight three constitutive elements or actors – elements systematically followed
throughout all case studies. Approaching platforms as sociotechnical constructs, we need to
analyze technology, users, and content in close alignment; highlighting plat- forms as
socioeconomic structures, we will scrutinize their ownership status, governance, and
business models.
1
