Thoughts on Platform Capitalism by Nick Srnicek
"What explains capitalism's productivity is a change in social relationships, particularly property relationships. Lean platforms are not the end of ownership, but rather its concentration."
Louis Hyman argues that
The history of labor shows that technology does not usually drive social change. On the contrary, social change is typically driven by decisions we make about how to organize our world.
In Platform Capitalism, we see similar threads. The historical turning points that led us to our current platform-dominated economies were largely driven by more than just technology. The current situation we’re in is a product of many decisions and events that started during the industrial revolution, and perhaps even before then.
It’s funny when I think about it; just a few years ago (and perhaps even now), Platform was a good word. You look at the companies that were smart enough to do “Platform Thinking” or “Platform Strategy” as shining beacons of industry. Be like Apple or Facebook — close off your ecosystems, reap those network effects and move at the fastest pace possible.
A great District Attorney once said, “You either die a hero, or live long enough to become the villain.” Today it’s Platform’s moment to turn heel.
Semantic drift is the phenomenon when a word changes its meaning over time. Awful used to mean something awesome. A demagogue used to mean a good leader. What will Platform mean 20, or maybe even just 10 years from now?
Everything moves in cycles. Technology even more so. We even have laws and diagrams such as Amara’s Law and the Gartner Hype Cycle that have codified this cyclical nature.
The cycle sometimes seem like a pendulum moving back and forth. When we swing too far on one end, gravity pulls us back. Today it seems that platform capitalism has brought us to the edge, and we now need a balancing force to bring us back to equilibrium.
Compounding is the process of creating a new word by combining several other root words.
Gig Economy. Surveillance Capitalism. Attention Economy. Platform Cooperatives.
Even as old words drift in meaning, we are creating new ones. And we are now starting to find the vocabulary to help us find that balancing force.