Date: February 24 2023
Time: 15:00 - 17:00, followed by drinks

Platform companies such as Meta, Alphabet, and ByteDance derive much of their “platform power” from their ability to accrue and wield capital or “market power.” Their billion-dollar revenues and valuations, however, tell only one part of a more complicated economic story. For example, platform markets are typically highly concentrated and constantly evolving. How to analyze such markets? What are key concept and data political economists use to follow the money? The purpose of this master class will be to introduce some of the concepts and methods needed to assess the value/revenue/market share and other important resources for actors operating in communication, digital, and traditional media markets. To account for continuities and changes, these include digital platforms and content, apps and services made available over the Internet, i.e., digital games, online music, video and other services, online news sources, etc. and data brokers. Convenors will share best practices and discuss practical challenges and potential future research directions. 

To make the most of this Global Digital Cultures master class, which will take place in February 24, from 3 until 5 pm, participants are asked (but not required) to read two texts in advance. You will receive these texts after registration:  

• Nieborg, D. B., & Helmond, A. (2019). The political economy of Facebook’s platformization in the mobile ecosystem: Facebook Messenger as a platform instance. Media, Culture & Society, 41(2), 196–218. 
• Winseck, D. (2019). Media Concentration in the Age of the Internet and Mobile Phones. In Making Media (pp. 175–190). Amsterdam University Press. 

The Master Class will be followed by drinks and discussion.

Dwayne R. Winseck is a Professor at the School of Journalism and Communication, with a cross-appointment to the Institute of Political Economy, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. His research interests and writing focus on the political economy of communications, the Internet and media as well as communications and media history, theory, policy and regulation. Dwayne is also the Director of the Global Media and Internet Concentration Project, which examines the structure and evolution of two-dozen sectors of the communication, Internet and media industries in close to forty countries and over the years from 1984 to 2027. 

David B. Nieborg is an Associate Professor of Media Studies at the University of Toronto and a Visiting Professor (’22-’23) at the University of Amsterdam. He held visiting and fellowship appointments with MIT, the Queensland University of Technology, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. David published on the game industry, app and platform economics, and game journalism in academic outlets such as New Media & Society, Social Media + Society, Internet Policy Review, and Media, Culture and Society. He is the co-author of Platforms and Cultural Production (Polity, 2021) and Mainstreaming and Game Journalism (MIT Press, 2023).