This is the capitalism of the future, they enthuse. The difference is that it’s not done through an exchange of cash in the real world, it is done digitally.Īnd, according to the proponents of platform capitalism, there is an added advantage: The middleman is cut out, costs to users are thus automatically reduced. Lower but still substantial: Uber, for example, creams off 25 percent of every taxi ride. Platform capitalism is capitalism pure and simple: You pay for the goods and services you get, nothing is free – even if transaction costs tend to be lower online. Platform capitalism has nothing to do with “sharing” in the sense of an exchange of goods or services at no cost to those engaged in the exchange.

Technology enthusiasts see platform capitalism, created by the digital revolution, as a benign form of capitalism ushering in a new blessed age where people come into their own, workers find instant demand for their services and consumers get what they want at the tap of a button on their smartphone.īefore we go on, let’s get one piece of semantics out of the way: Platform capitalism should not be confused with the “sharing economy” (insofar as it exists at all). Their apps create a digital space where service providers and users meet the needs of the latter are satisfied by the former while the app owners take a fair percentage off every transaction. Uber, AirBnB, TaskRabbit and the like are viewed as saviors, providing jobs to those who wouldn’t have any or rounding off the pay of those who make too little.

Platform Capitalism by Nick Srnicek