How Content Creators Respond to the Metric-Based Control of Platforms Over Their Career

Abstract

Quantification and the metrics form the fundamental basis of the algorithmic control exercised by the platforms on the platform workers. For content creators, not only are the metrics linked to the financial gain and status, but also to their coupling with the sense of self-worth of content creators grows over time. While the “game of metrics” takes the center-stage in the early- and mid-stage of content creators’ career, this study finds that the fixation on the metrics prove unsustainable to the content creators. As their performance inevitably plateaus and declines, content creators shift their attention to individual audience comments and distance themselves from the pursuit of the metrics. In response to the perceived opacity and their inability to decipher the feedback in the form of metrics, they experience frustration and mistrust towards the metrics and the platform’s algorithms. These are accompanied by the discursive strategy of drawing a symbolic dichotomy between the inauthentic “sellouts” who chase the metrics, exploit their audience, and continuously change to fit the mold of what is popular today and the authentic selves who prioritize the personal connection with the audience. These evolution in their beliefs over the course of their career paints a comprehensive picture of how platform workers relate to the metrics and other forms of feedback. Finally, this study contemplates the abovementioned findings in the light of the growing competition for talent by the social media platforms that continue to believe that the lack of transparency regarding the metrics and the algorithms sustains the power differential between them and the platform workers, preserving their control over the workers.