Understanding and Designing Sociotechnical Systems to Support the Impression Management Practices of Online Freelance Workers

Foong, Eureka

doi:10.1145/3323994.3371017

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…These kinds of things, [he] finds out while doing” and that he “[doesn’t] know exactly how it works, but [he tries] to keep [his] profile in best shape.” This unfamiliarity could explain why we observed a large focus among freelancers on visible metrics, and why many freelancers had negative opinions of Upwork’s ranking algorithm. The frustration aligns with Rahman’s (2021) ethnographic study of Upwork, where he described the inherent opacity of the evaluation system as well as freelancers’ experience with it as an “invisible cage.” The specific visibility affordances of Upwork thus constrain and complicate freelancers’ self-branding performance, making it harder for them to engage in effective impression management (Foong, 2020).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The frustration aligns with Rahman's (2021) ethnographic study of Upwork, where he described the inherent opacity of the evaluation system as well as freelancers' experience with it as an "invisible cage." The specific visibility affordances of Upwork thus constrain and complicate freelancers' self-branding performance, making it harder for them to engage in effective impression management (Foong, 2020).…”

Section: Strategy 1: Boosting a Profilementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the financial nature of transactions, particularly regarding long-term and highly remunerated projects, online labor platforms thus represent people-processing encounters. Since Upwork's affordances, such as visibility, algorithmic matching, and persistence affect how these people-processing encounters unfold, a socio-technical resolution would include empowering solutions, such as online feedback systems that help freelancers improve their impression management practices (Foong, 2020).…”

Section: Strategy 1: Boosting a Profilementioning

confidence: 99%

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Self-branding strategies of online freelancers on Upwork

Blyth¹,

Jarrahi

Lutz³

et al. 2022

New Media & Society

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Self-branding is crucial for online freelancers as they must constantly differentiate themselves from competitors on online labor platforms to ensure a viable stream of income. By analyzing 39 interviews with freelancers and clients on the online labor platform Upwork, we identify five key self-branding strategies: boosting a profile, showcasing skills, expanding presence, maintaining relationships with clients, and individualizing brand. These self-branding strategies are contextualized within Goffman’s dramaturgical theory and through an affordances lens, showing immanent tensions. While online freelancers successfully leverage self-branding to improve their visibility on Upwork and beyond, the client perspective reveals a fine line between too little and too much self-branding. Online freelancers must brand themselves in visibility games when the game rules are largely opaque, riddled with uncertainty, and constantly evolving. We connect the findings to adjacent platform economy research and derive a self-branding as a performance framework.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Strategy 1: Boosting a Profilementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Strategy 1: Boosting a Profilementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Self-branding strategies of online freelancers on Upwork

Blyth¹,

Jarrahi

Lutz³

et al. 2022

New Media & Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Making it Work, or Not

Blaising

Kotturi

Kulkarni

et al. 2021

Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact.

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Online freelancing is growing rapidly. However, despite this rapid growth, we have a limited understanding of online freelancers' long-term experiences and evolution, or how online freelancing influences freelancers' broader career goals. To address this gap, we interviewed a set of online freelancers at two time periods, two and a half years apart. We found that long-term engagement with online freelancing involves a unique set of financial, emotional, relational, and reputational burdens that represent the overhead of maintaining an online freelancing career. We found that this overhead influenced online freelancers' participation and perceptions of online freelancing over time, as well as the strategies some freelancers employed to manage their careers. Our findings further highlight how online freelance platforms can afford unique career development opportunities over a longer period of time, including career exploration and transition, entrepreneurial training and reputation, and skills transfer. Based on our findings, we present policy and design implications to increase the sustainability and accessibility of online freelancing.

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Platform-mediated Markets, Online Freelance Workers and Deconstructed Identities

Muñoz

Dunn

Sawyer

et al. 2022

Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact.

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We advance the concept of deconstructed identity to explain how online workers' identities are being reshaped, diminished and controlled by digital labor platforms. We focus on online freelance workers and contribute to contemporary conceptualizations regarding worker's self-presentation. The empirical basis for our analysis and theorizing build from two rounds of a longitudinal panel study of online freelance workers and their interactions with online labor platforms. Findings illuminate how online freelancer's identity presentation is constrained by the structuring of their profile, the ratings and client feedback, the algorithms used by the digital platform, and platform's terms of use. Data demonstrate that workers' profiles are focused on skills, reflecting the realities of competing for work in under-regulated labor markets. Study participants report the centrality of client and platform ratings of their work, and the need to manage client feedback and ratings as a core part of their online identity presentation. These findings suggest that, far from a subjective and personal story, a freelancer's identity on a digital labor platform is better understood as a standardized depiction of skills, ratings, and metrics controlled by platform algorithms. Coupled with use policies and evolving platform designs, this platform control creates what seems to be a form of indentured servitude. We further note online freelancers both recognize this control and resist their deconstructed identity.

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Understanding and Designing Sociotechnical Systems to Support the Impression Management Practices of Online Freelance Workers

Cited by 9 publications

References 23 publications

Self-branding strategies of online freelancers on Upwork

Self-branding strategies of online freelancers on Upwork

Making it Work, or Not

Platform-mediated Markets, Online Freelance Workers and Deconstructed Identities

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