Category: Papers

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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Governing the Digital Society: Platforms, Artificial Intelligence, and Public Values

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

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Platform: A Tapestry of Meanings and Metaphors

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

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Super-Appification: Conglomeration in the Global Digital Economy

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

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Pandemic platform governance: Mapping the global ecosystem of COVID-19 response apps

How have app stores governed the global app response to the coronavirus pandemic? An exploratory systematic mapping of COVID-19 pandemic response apps – A new open access article by Michael Dieter, Anne Helmond, Nathaniel Tkacz, Fernando van der Vlist, and Esther Weltevrede in Internet Policy Review. Abstract This article provides an exploratory systematic mapping of… Read more Pandemic platform governance: Mapping the global ecosystem of COVID-19 response apps

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