Can virtual workers strike? Book chapter on identity and collective action in microwork

I’ve posted online a pre-print version of my upcoming chapter in Space, place and global digital work, edited by Jörg Flecker (Palgrave-Macmillan 2016). The chapter is titled Algorithms That Divide and Unite: Delocalization, Identity, and Collective Action in ‘Microwork’. I… Continue Reading

Do platforms connect clients directly to providers? The new network patterns of digital work

As part of our project on digital labour and development, Isis Hjorth, Mark Graham, Helena Barnard and I have been meeting and interviewing over a hundred people who do freelance work over the Internet, through platforms such as Upwork and… Continue Reading

Informational Magnetism on Wikipedia: mapping edit focus

The previous post demonstrated not only that Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa are net-importers of content on Wikipedia (Sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, receives 10.7 more edits from the rest of the world than it commits to… Continue Reading

Informational Magnetism on Wikipedia: geographic networks of edits

The previous posts about the geography of contributions to Wikipedia showed the varying types of local engagement that different regions have, the primary reason that Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, has such a low proportion of locally created content, and some… Continue Reading

Digging deeper into the localness of participation in Sub-Saharan African Wikipedia content

The previous two posts about the geography of contributions to Wikipedia showed both the different types of local engagement that different regions have, and the primary reason that Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, has such a low proportion of locally created… Continue Reading

Explaining locally-contributed content in Wikipedia about Sub-Saharan Africa

An earlier post showed how different parts of the world have very different levels of engagement with local content in Wikipedia. The data presented there showed that a majority of content about North America and Europe are created in those… Continue Reading