Three Currents of Platformization in China

Abstract

This essay explores the three currents of user-generated content (UGC) platform development in China: one is full of improvised endeavors in the cultural production through amateur creativity; one is featured with affective laboring and networking by prosumers, who struggle with the algorithm-conditioned visibility of platforms; and one is featured with regulatory attempts by platforms and authorities to introduce a new “creator economy.” Our investigation into the platformization has focused on the multifaceted role of networking that unfolds among prosumers and platforms, and subsequently the changing networks and hierarchies of the crowd-based economy. We argue for an emerging landscape of multiple networked territories at multiple scales. The logic of visibility-making coordinates the distributed agency of networking by prosumers, platforms, and cultural and political authorities, giving birth to territories at multiple scales, from themed cultural communities to techno-giants with a sense of national pride.