A MANIFESTO FOR THE PLATFORM SOCIETY
Amidst this pandemic, I can’t help but wonder how the world is going to change in the next 3, 6, or 12 months. How will our screens and the digital platforms that light them up everyday dictate our future? With this in mind, I wanted to share a project that I’ve written for my final “virtual” class @ The London School of Economics.
The manifesto below includes a series of 8 recommendations for the regulation of platforms. The purpose of this work is to inspire virtuous relationships built on awareness and hopefulness between citizens, governments, and private corporations alike.
Note: For all intensive purposes, digital platforms can range from tech giants like Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Twitter to pioneers of the gig economy like Uber, Lyft and Airbnb. And of course, the tech disruptors of China, like Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent. Needless to say, while these platforms vary in offerings, they are similar in that they have a massive following and influence over our world today.
1. First and foremost, to understand platforms is to understand the technology that makes them possible. Technology by nature has the ability for inclusion and exclusion as well as connection and separation. When designing platforms, keep in mind the issues that plague our society today — racism, sexism, ageism, classism, religious intolerance, and prejudices — examine how your platform enables and disables these individuals or groups accordingly.
2. The very idea of a platform and what it means to humanity is evolving in meaning, concept, and function. A platform like any other idea or product (or human for that matter) is never perfect. A platform must have the capability to iterate, adapt, and recalibrate based on the nature of the world. And perhaps, a good place to start, is considering what part of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs your platform is fulfilling or facilitating.
3. A platform is no more than the sum of its parts. It requires maintenance that is imperative to its success. In knowing this, the humans behind said maintenance, from systems to infrastructures, are paramount in manifesting (supporting and extending and developing) the suggestions outlined throughout this manifesto. The importance of these individuals (and teams) should be matched with respect for their work, their time, and their compensation.
4. Understanding scale and impact carries great weight. What does a just society look like? Is it absence of poverty? An abundance of equality? A greater respect for our planet? Or perhaps, simply, the opportunity to be, to inspire, to create happiness? These are the questions that must fuel change, rather than the traditional data exchange models that yield profit and growth for their capitalist purveyors.
5. To that end, how might a platform (and the humans that create it) understand its place in the world? Some platforms may function as an outlet for news, for opinions, for artistry, for tomfoolery, for communication, or for a combination of these outputs. Needless to say, innovators must not plan for the future without knowing the past (and the various perspectives that comprise it). Through acknowledging use and impact, it is vital for platforms to consider who users are, where they come from, and the histories of their respective localities. And from here, we may begin to see an emergence of objective and ethical constructs.
6. How might platforms consider a successful business model? Perhaps one based on transparency, openness and accessibility as a blackbox does not yield trust or security. Concede that legal-jargon is tenuous for users and deliver your business models in tangible and direct ways that encourage feedback.
7. What does collaboration on a global scale mean in times of uncertainty? By virtue of ubiquity, certain platforms are uniquely powerful in amplifying voices and stimulating conversations between governments and citizens; thus enabling thoughtful discourse and informed action in times of peril or distress. For this reason it is crucial for platforms to work with governments, rather than see themselves above the law or to circumvent rules of law, to attain goals of connectivity and communication that can elevate society.
8. And finally, platforms represent a profound influence on the social norms of our world today. To be in the driver’s seat requires a responsibility that goes beyond employees and shareholders, but extends to the world at large. While humanity is accompanied by many challenges, the platform society offers infinite solutions when engendered with empathy (as this is the key trait that distinguishes humans from technology).
