Work

Couchsurfing with Bateson: An ecology of digital platforms

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: Digital platforms radically alter socio-economic and organizational patterns. In an ecological sense, they enable the rapid extension of tolerance limits by digitally scaling variables such as the availability of accommodation or labour. However, such maximization of specific variables in a complex ecology bears the danger of pathological runaway patterns. In our paper we draw on the work of Gregory Bateson to outline an analytical approach for the study of digital platforms as ecological phenomena, focusing on the effects of digitalization on the context in which platforms operate. To study such meta-patterns, we elaborate three interrelated concepts: stress, adaptation and budgets of flexibility. We exemplify these ideas through a longitudinal study of the early digital platform Couchsurfing and develop implications for our understanding of technology and organization.

Source: Organization Studies

DOI: 10.1177/01708406211058628

Authors: Karolina Mikołajewska-Zając, Attila Márton, Mike Zundel

Institutions: Kozminski University, Copenhagen Business School, University of Liverpool

Language: English

Topic: Digital Platforms and Economics

Subfield: Strategy and Management

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,000

Funder: Ministerstwo Edukacji i Nauki