In The Platform Society, the authors, José van Dijck, Thomas Poell, and Martijn de Waal, describe platforms as follows: Online Platform Mechanisms Essay, NUI, Ireland

In The Platform Society, the authors, José van Dijck, Thomas Poell, and Martijn de Waal, describe platforms as follows: a platform is fueled by data, automated and organized through algorithms and interfaces, formalized through ownership relations driven by business models, and governed through user agreements.

They describe four platform mechanisms including Datafication: Platforms can function as an ecosystem because data are constantly exchanged between a wide variety of online services. Positioned at the center of this ecosystem, the Big Five infrastructural platforms very much control the circulation of data to and from sectoral platforms, websites, apps, and the mass of users.

The main way in which they do so is through APIs, which allow third-party applications to access platform data. Personalization: Platforms algorithmically determine the interests, desires, and needs of each user on the basis of a wide variety of data fied user signals, personalizing the user’s stream of content, advertising, and contact suggestions.

Task: Use an online platform* as an example,

(a) explain how the platform design enables users to freely communicate and interact with each other; and

(b) discuss 2-3 platform mechanisms that might impede freedom of expression. In the short essay, you should demonstrate the understanding of online platforms as products of design and provide examples of platform mechanisms.

* A platform can be a social media platform, a video platform, a search engine, an educational technology platform, and other online platforms, web- or app-based.