ABSTRACT

In March 2018, a series of newspaper articles about the subversive use of the social media platform Facebook during various elections in 2016 were published. These revelations produced a backlash against the platform, which resulted in a popular hashtag, #DeleteFacebook.

This article uses the #DeleteFacebook campaign as a case study to analyse the contemporary model of platform capitalism. Furthermore, by introducing emerging literature on data trusts – specifically, the notion of a bottom up data trust – this paper argues the #DeleteFacebook campaign reveals, both in its conception and in its ultimate failure, a desire for an alternative model of platform capitalism.

By drawing on the #DeleteFacebook campaign, this article argues that a bottom up data trust designed to empower individual users can resolve many of the initial grievances, and barriers to success, experienced by the campaign.

摘要

2018 年 3 月，发表了一系列关于社交媒体平台 Facebook 在 2016 年各种选举期间颠覆性使用的报纸文章。这些爆料引起了对该平台的强烈反对，从而产生了一个流行的话题标签#DeleteFacebook。

本文使用#DeleteFacebook活动作为案例研究来分析平台资本主义的当代模式。此外，通过介绍有关数据信任的新兴文献——特别是自下而上的数据信任的概念——本文认为#DeleteFacebook活动在其概念和最终失败方面都揭示了对平台资本主义替代模式的渴望。

通过借鉴#DeleteFacebook活动，本文认为旨在赋予个人用户权力的自下而上的数据信任可以解决该活动所经历的许多最初的不满和成功的障碍。