Facebook’s evolution: development of a platform-as-infrastructure

We just published a new article (open access🔓): Helmond, Anne, David B. Nieborg, and Fernando N. van der Vlist. “Facebook’s Evolution: Development of a Platform-as-Infrastructure.” Internet Histories 3, no. 2 (April 3, 2019): 123–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/24701475.2019.1593667. In this article we present a methodological approach for tracing a platform’s evolution using archived sources from the Internet Archive… Read more Facebook’s evolution: development of a platform-as-infrastructure

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RMeS Workshop Appnography: Researching the apps of life and the life of apps

Please to announce that I’ll be speaking at this wonderful workshop on researching apps with Fernando van der Vlist (U of Siegen) and Nathaniel Tkacz (U of Warwick). Read the full call for all information. Workshop organized by Dr Rik Smit (RUG), within the context of the Research School for Media Studies (RMeS) PhD Workshop… Read more RMeS Workshop Appnography: Researching the apps of life and the life of apps

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A Historiography of the Hyperlink: Periodizing the Web Through the Changing Role of the Hyperlink

In this chapter I provide a historiography of one of the core elements of the web, the hypertext link. I do so with the specific purpose of tracing the various roles of this central web object as a way to understand social, technical and commercial transformations of the web. That is, the hyperlink is positioned… Read more A Historiography of the Hyperlink: Periodizing the Web Through the Changing Role of the Hyperlink

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The political economy of Facebook’s platformization in the mobile ecosystem: Facebook Messenger as a platform instance

Abstract Facebook’s usage has reached a point that the platform’s infrastructural ambitions are to be taken very seriously. To understand the company’s evolution in the age of mobile media, we critically engage with the political economy of platformization. This article puts forward a conceptual framework and methodological apparatus to study Facebook’s economic growth and expanding… Read more The political economy of Facebook’s platformization in the mobile ecosystem: Facebook Messenger as a platform instance

Posted on by Anne