Filter Blogs By tag: platform economy

The idea that power can be exercised not only through coercion, but also through the construction of cultural consent, is one of the best-known contributions of Antonio Gramsci’s thought.[1] In the Prison Notebooks,[2] the philosopher describes “cultural hegemony”[3] as the ability of a dominant group to make its worldview appear natural and universally shared through education, the media and institutions. Almost a century later, this interpretative framework is sometimes invoked to make sense of the transformations taking place within today’s digital ecosystem.

Today, a significant proportion of public communication online in Europe takes place on privately owned platforms headquartered elsewhere, including Facebook, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, YouTube, X, TikTok, Instagram, Telegram, Signal, Snapchat, Reddit and Discord.