Virtual exchange-based mobilities: platform economy, exchange and culture

摘要

The development of a platform economy is generating new ways of virtual exchange-based mobilities. This economy is based on the use of digital media by networked individuals, the Internet of Things and digital platforms. The characteristics of the platform economy are informed by new imaginations of mobility that are shaped by dynamic circuits of data and connectivity as well as economic and cultural desires to find new ways to distribute and use resources. Access to -and distribution of - goods and services are digitally enabled and are encountered virtually via platforms that materialize in economic and social activities. The platform economy is a new feature of mobility in that it connects and mobilizes products, services, people and data in virtually enabled exchange relationships. This paper addresses digital platforms and networked individuals as they combine to create different experiences of exchange that include transaction-based practices as well as sharing arrangements. A feature of the platform environment is its ethos of "exchange within mobility", which materializes in two main ways: (a) as an economy of transactions and (b) as a culture of sharing. The rise of virtual exchange-based mobilities is crafted out of the social relations of digital platforms as they interact with cultures of social life and digitized imaginations, which is resulting in various types of exchange relationships.