The Machine System of Digital Labor Platforms and the Algorithm as Transmitting Mechanism

Abstract

Central to the increasing digitization of contemporary capitalism are platforms such as Twitter, Uber, and Amazon. Utilizing large amounts of data and the internet’s global network, digital platforms allow for connection between users, workers, suppliers, employers, and other economic or social actors. Using Marx’s triadic conception of the machine from chapter 15 of Capital, “Machinery and Large-Scale Industry,” this essay highlights how the digital platform can be viewed as a machine system of the twenty-first century once technological changes are accounted for. Key to the digital platform as a machine system is its transmitting mechanism, the algorithm. The algorithm allows the central driving force, the technology firm, to regulate gig or click-work labor processes that take place on the platform. This framework provides a clearer positioning of the digital platform within the capitalist mode of production.