On January 14, 2021, Data & Society hosted our first ever online academic workshop. The full-day event brought together interdisciplinary researchers and practitioners who research how institutions, individuals, and infrastructures mediate platform power.
Out of close to 450 applications, hosts Robyn Caplan, Meredith D. Clark, and Wiliam Partin selected 60 participants from various career stages, specialties, sectors, and global locations and a range of disciplines, including legal, organizational, activist, policy, media, and platform domains. 14 papers were selected to workshop during the event, spanning across five major themes:
(1) Alternative internet histories;
(2) Platform deaths;
(3) Culture industries, subcultures, and modes of resistance;
(4) Mediation of platforms through infrastructure; and
(5) Multistakeholderism and influence.
