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Platform-mediated Markets, Online Freelance Workers and Deconstructed Identities

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Emily MichaelsAuthors Info & Claims

Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, Volume 6, Issue CSCW2

Article No.: 367, Pages 1 - 24

https://doi.org/10.1145/3555092

Published: 11 November 2022 Publication History

Abstract

We advance the concept of deconstructed identity to explain how online workers' identities are being reshaped, diminished and controlled by digital labor platforms. We focus on online freelance workers and contribute to contemporary conceptualizations regarding worker's self-presentation. The empirical basis for our analysis and theorizing build from two rounds of a longitudinal panel study of online freelance workers and their interactions with online labor platforms. Findings illuminate how online freelancer's identity presentation is constrained by the structuring of their profile, the ratings and client feedback, the algorithms used by the digital platform, and platform's terms of use. Data demonstrate that workers' profiles are focused on skills, reflecting the realities of competing for work in under-regulated labor markets. Study participants report the centrality of client and platform ratings of their work, and the need to manage client feedback and ratings as a core part of their online identity presentation. These findings suggest that, far from a subjective and personal story, a freelancer's identity on a digital labor platform is better understood as a standardized depiction of skills, ratings, and metrics controlled by platform algorithms. Coupled with use policies and evolving platform designs, this platform control creates what seems to be a form of indentured servitude. We further note online freelancers both recognize this control and resist their deconstructed identity.

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Cited By

Munoz IKim PO'Neil CDunn MSawyer S(2024)Platformization of Inequality: Gender and Race in Digital Labor PlatformsProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36373858:CSCW1(1-22)Online publication date: 26-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3637385
Das DGuha SBrubaker JSemaan B(2024)The ``Colonial Impulse" of Natural Language Processing: An Audit of Bengali Sentiment Analysis Tools and Their Identity-based BiasesProceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642669(1-18)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642669
Hernandez RSong QKou YGui X(2024)"At the end of the day, I am accountable": Gig Workers' Self-Tracking for Multi-Dimensional Accountability ManagementProceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642151(1-20)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
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Index Terms

Platform-mediated Markets, Online Freelance Workers and Deconstructed Identities
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)
    1. Empirical studies in HCI
2. Social and professional topics
  1. User characteristics

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cover image Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction

Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction Volume 6, Issue CSCW2

CSCW

November 2022

8205 pages

EISSN:2573-0142

DOI:10.1145/3571154

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Published: 11 November 2022

Published in PACMHCI Volume 6, Issue CSCW2

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Cited By

Munoz IKim PO'Neil CDunn MSawyer S(2024)Platformization of Inequality: Gender and Race in Digital Labor PlatformsProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36373858:CSCW1(1-22)Online publication date: 26-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3637385
Das DGuha SBrubaker JSemaan B(2024)The ``Colonial Impulse" of Natural Language Processing: An Audit of Bengali Sentiment Analysis Tools and Their Identity-based BiasesProceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642669(1-18)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642669
Hernandez RSong QKou YGui X(2024)"At the end of the day, I am accountable": Gig Workers' Self-Tracking for Multi-Dimensional Accountability ManagementProceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642151(1-20)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642151
Dedema MRosenbaum H(2024)Socio‐technical issues in the platform‐mediated gig economyJournal of the Association for Information Science and Technology10.1002/asi.2486875:3(344-374)Online publication date: 8-Jan-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1002/asi.24868
Ren JRaghupathi VRaghupathi W(2023)Exploring Influential Factors in Hiring Freelancers in Online Labor Platforms: An Empirical StudyEconomies10.3390/economies1103008011:3(80)Online publication date: 3-Mar-2023
https://doi.org/10.3390/economies11030080
Kim PSawyer S(2023)Many Futures of Work and Skill: Heterogeneity in Skill Building Experiences on Digital Labor PlatformsProceedings of the 2nd Annual Meeting of the Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work10.1145/3596671.3597655(1-9)Online publication date: 13-Jun-2023
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Alvarez de la Vega JCecchinato MRooksby J(2022)Design Opportunities for Freelancing Platforms: Online Freelancers’ Views on a Worker-Centred Design FictionProceedings of the 1st Annual Meeting of the Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction for Work10.1145/3533406.3533410(1-19)Online publication date: 8-Jun-2022
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