Associate Professor of Media, Data & Society
In this discussion we examine the notion of the datafied web by situating it historically and methodologically. By mobilizing insights from a range of fields, the discussion broadens the conceptual and methodological approaches and tools available for studying the datafied web. A dialogue between Migle Bareikyte, Carolin Gerlitz, Sebastian Giessmann, Jonathan W. Y. Gray, Anne… Read more The datafied web: a round-doc discussion
Over ten years ago I coined the term ‘platformization’ (2015) to understand how platforms expand beyond their own boundaries in Social Media + Society. Editor Zizi Papacharissi invited me, along others, to celebrate the journal’s 10 years’ anniversary by reflecting on a decade of platformization. The Platformization of Everything: From the End of the Like… Read more The Platformization of Everything: From the End of the Like Button to AI Infrastructure in Space
A new book chapter by Fernando van der Vlist, Anne Helmond and Esther Weltevrede in The Routledge Companion to Mobile Media (edited by Gerard Goggin and Larissa Hjorth, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003166016-38. This chapter introduces methods for analysing app ecosystems, emphasizing that apps are not stand-alone entities but exist within larger ecosystems. It outlines three approaches: apps “for… Read more App ecosystem analysis
We have a new edited Open Access book out with Amsterdam University Press: José van Dijck, Karin van Es, Anne Helmond, and Fernando van der Vlist (eds) (2025) Governing the Digital Society: Platforms, Artificial Intelligence, and Public Values. Amsterdam University Press. It features 15 chapters from excellent researchers from our interdisciplinary research focus area Governing… Read more Governing the Digital Society: Platforms, Artificial Intelligence, and Public Values
A new book chapter by Anne Helmond and Fernando van der Vlist in Digital Media Metaphors (edited by Johan Farkas and Marcus Maloney), http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781032674612-4 This chapter explores the metaphorical ‘tapestry’ of meanings woven into the ‘platform’ metaphor, tracing its journey from a technical term in the computing sphere to a central concept in digital media.… Read more Platform: A Tapestry of Meanings and Metaphors
A new open access article by Fernando van der Vlist, Anne Helmond, Michael Dieter, and Esther Weltevrede in: New Media & Society, https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231223419. Super-Appification: Conglomeration in the Global Digital Economy “In this study, we offer a distinct, global overview of ‘super apps’, enabling comparative analysis of their characteristics and origins worldwide, and paving the way… Read more Super-Appification: Conglomeration in the Global Digital Economy