Platform ecology: A user‐centric and relational conceptualization of online platforms

Abstract

Online platforms provide a technological infrastructure allowing social actors to enact and utilize networks with a global reach. They play important roles as intermediaries and algorithm‐based curators of social interaction. This paper addresses two knowledge gaps: First, while a growing number of empirical studies has deepened our insights into the social dynamics characterizing single platforms, little is known about the multiple ways in which users or user groups combine diverse online offers according to their preferences. Second, the empirical focus has mainly been on online interaction. However, in everyday practices, the online is always situated in offline practices. It is thus necessary to understand the complex interdependencies of online and offline spheres. This paper therefore aims to develop an ecological heuristic that positions the user(s) and their practices center stage in the analysis and to elucidate the on/offline opportunity spaces and the affordances and constraints they provide for user agency.

A bibliometric analysis of Community of Inquiry in online learning contexts over twenty-five years

“…Teachers are supposed to organize the learning activities where new knowledge is delivered. They can also help students establish knowledge networks by interacting with them through online platforms (Ibert et al, 2021). They, as supervisors, can urge students to complete the assignment and join class punctually by scoring their learning performances.…”

Energy Sector Evolution: Perspectives on Energy Platforms and Energy Transition

“…Moreover, digital platforms are evolving into personal assistants that serve as both an extension of the user and a sophisticated data processing tool. These platforms offer a technological foundation that enables social participants to create and access networks on a global scale, reflecting the diverse ways in which users or groups of users mix and match various online services based on their preferences [26,27].…”

Workspaces of Mediation: How Digital Platforms Shape Practices, Spaces and Places of Creative Work

“…van Dijck et al 2018;Barns 2019). They underscore that, in daily life, online and offline worlds are increasingly interpenetrating and that virtual platforms are seamlessly shaping situations and contexts (Ibert et al 2021). Accordingly, platforms cannot be defined as merely a tool for virtual interaction or an additional space of work.…”