Week 10: Platforms (Not the Shoes)

This week, we finished up our iFixit Projects and started Unit 3 which is crazy that we’re so close to the end of the semester already. We also started our discussion on platforms with our reading on “The politics of ‘platforms’ by Tarleton Gillespie. Gillespie talks about the various kinds of platforms that exist including computational, architectural, figurative, and political. Computational platforms involve computer hardware and operating systems; architectural platforms involve physical structures; figurative platforms involve metaphysical foundations, and political platforms are articulated beliefs.

In class, we learned the key terms that Gillespie includes in his discussion on the various kinds of platforms and how the biggest platform, YouTube, is working to ensure its platform is fair to all of its creators. However, the discussion point of how YouTube tries to empower each individual evenly with their content was false. Like Cesar mentioned, I also have noticed how they will feature trending videos, or include personal recommendations based on videos you’ve watched. I also feel like YouTube really favors videos that have received YouTube awards for the number of subscribers they have, if they’re sponsored by a company and have an ad in their videos, and if they have really good editing work on them. Knowing algorithms and SEO basics, I’m sure have been able to really help people appear more professional and stay consistent with the content they’re releasing. However, I’m also positive that YouTube favors those who include those aspects themselves in their videos. YouTube may insert video ads in long enough videos, but I wouldn’t say that all content creators are created equal.



Comments

  1. Samantha SurowiecOctober 27, 2022 at 10:08 AM

    Hi Sydney! Great insight here. I like how you brought up what Ceasar said in class about featuring trending videos because that's also something that I've noticed. Also, congratulations on moving onto the next phase in our SEO project. I can't wait to see what you and Adam come up with!

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  2. Taylor LindellOctober 30, 2022 at 3:57 PM

    Hey Syndey! I think you had some great thoughts to share about YouTube. The algorithms in place really allow famous people to continue growing while limiting those who lack popularity. Being familiar with how the algorithms work will allow many influencers to grow in relevance and become more successful.

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