From citizen organization to marketing: community organizing as a way of regulating autonomy within digital intermediation platforms?

Abstract

We will discuss the marketing instrumentalization of community organizing methods in the
context of Web 2.0. Our main hypothesis is that
community organizing represents an emerging way
to regulate users’ autonomy on digital intermediation
platforms. After specifying the type of relation that
exists between autonomy and economic stakes of
these platforms, we will highlight the organizational
specificities of community organizing. This approach
will lead us to present the results of an exploratory
research, confirming partially the idea that
community organizing is an autonomous regulation.
Finally, we will open a discussion on how platforms
could use this model for political instrumentalization.