This research project critically investigates how public space is reconfigured in the new emerging ecosystem of social media and conventional mass media. The quick rise of social media has affected the balance between (private) space, community (public) space, and corporate (commercial) space, transforming not just the media ecosystem, but also other domains of public life. This project investigates how major social media platforms, mostly steered by global commercial companies, in constant interaction with mainstream media, affect and reshape key areas of public communication as well as economic production and civic organization. Central issue is the notion of public values: how can public values be safeguarded in various domains of society when digital media platforms have started to take a central organizing role in these domains?
Product: The Platform Society book
In the fall of 2016, the book De Platformsamenleving. Strijd om publieke waarden in een online wereld. (The Platform Society. The Struggle for Public Value in an On Line World) was published by the Amsterdam University Press. The book was launched with a public debate at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Currently, the research team is preparing an updated English edition of the book..