Reading & Watching

Algorithmic resistance

Watch “Algorithmic resistance” on YouTube by ghost of 小哲学角.

The video discusses Algorithms of Resistance: The Everyday Fight against Platform Power by Tiziano Bonini and Emiliano Treré. Its chapters cover platform power, moral economy, gig work, gaming culture, and politics.

While the specifics of the way people interact with algorithms are informative, what is most interesting is our developing the human-machine language. Liking, subscribing, deliberately timing posts, and activities such as search engine optimization (SEO) are all forms of dialogue with algorithms. We do not just give input to algorithms, and they do not just rank results or provide content to us; we and the algorithms are in dialogue. We change one another, with culture, behavior, and algorithms changing together.

The book

Algorithms of Resistance: The Everyday Fight against Platform Power by Tiziano Bonini and Emiliano Treré. Published by MIT Press in 2024.

Drawing on research across the Global North and South, the book examines how workers, cultural creators, and activists adapt platform algorithms to pursue their own goals. Its examples span gig work, cultural industries, and politics. The authors use the concept of moral economies to explore tensions between platform priorities and the values of the people using them.

This description is adapted from the MIT Press book page, which also links to an open access edition.