New book – Platforms: A Critical Introduction (Polity)

Platforms Everywhere: Understanding What Platforms Are and How to Study Them For years, much of public and academic debates about platforms revolved around social media. Today, attention has shifted toward artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructures, and AI platforms. Yet many of the underlying concerns remain the same: concentration of power, data extraction, infrastructure dependency, governance, and… Read more New book – Platforms: A Critical Introduction (Polity)

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The datafied web: a round-doc discussion

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

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The Platformization of Everything: From the End of the Like Button to AI Infrastructure in Space

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

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App ecosystem analysis

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

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De verborgen wereld achter AI (Rathenau Podcast)

Fernando van der Vlist (Universiteit van Amsterdam) en ik waren te gast in de Verrekijkers-podcast van het Rathenau Instituut, waar we spraken over wat we tegenwoordig “AI” noemen. AI is in feite een complex ecosysteem van digitale én fysieke componenten – een zogeheten “AI stack” – waarvan we via populaire interfaces zoals ChatGPT slechts het… Read more De verborgen wereld achter AI (Rathenau Podcast)

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