Category: Research

From healthy communities to toxic debates: Disqus’ changing ideas about comment moderation

A new open access article by Johannes Paßmann, Anne Helmond, and Robert Jansma in Internet Histories. We use data from the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine to examine online commenting system Disqus’ shifting discourse about comment moderation and its increasing modes of platform interventionism. Crucially, we find that in the case of Disqus, the toxic is… Read more From healthy communities to toxic debates: Disqus’ changing ideas about comment moderation

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API Governance: The Case of Facebook’s Evolution

Application programming interfaces (APIs) are not merely technical objects for data access but have evolved into complex governance arrangements. We examine the relationship between the ‘technicity’ of platform governance–”governance of and by APIs–and the material conditions of a platform’s power. A new open access article by Fernando van der Vlist, Anne Helmond, Marcus Burkhardt, and… Read more API Governance: The Case of Facebook’s Evolution

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Rapport over webarchivering erfgoedinstellingen

In samenwerking met collega’s van het Instituut voor Informatierecht (IvIR), heb ik meegeschreven aan een onderzoeksrapport voor het Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek- en Documentatiecentrum, het kennisinstituut voor het ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid, over webarchivering door erfgoedinstellingen: “De culturele erfgoedsector in Nederland heeft de ambitie om websites en andere webcontent voor volgende generaties te verzamelen en bewaren.… Read more Rapport over webarchivering erfgoedinstellingen

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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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Mapping business and data partnerships in the social media ecosystem

Research article by Fernando van der Vlist and Anne Helmond – An empirical study about the significance of partnerships and how partners mediate and shape platform power published in the open access journal Big Data & Society. Social media platforms are among the world’s most profitable businesses whose business models rely on digital advertising revenues.… Read more Mapping business and data partnerships in the social media ecosystem

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Platform and app histories: Assessing source availability in web archives and app repositories

We just presented our forthcoming book chapter on ‘Platform and app histories: Assessing source availability in web archives and app repositories’ at the Engaging with Web Archives (#EWAvirtual) conference. Abstract In this chapter we discuss the research opportunities for historical studies of apps and platforms. Platforms and apps notoriously resist archiving due to their ephemerality… Read more Platform and app histories: Assessing source availability in web archives and app repositories

Posted on by Anne