Are we ‘sharing’ or ‘gig-ing’? A classification system for online platforms

There is a growing debate about the nature and extent of platform control over workers. Companies claim they are merely ‘matchmakers’ while labour advocates argue that these organisations exercise granular control over workers. Blending the fields of information science and labour relations, this article develops a classification system of sequential control to delineate between ‘high control’ and ‘low control’ platforms. In doing so, this article provides a theoretical method to distinguish ‘sharing’ versus ‘gig’ platforms and argues that worker autonomy—how platforms foreclose worker choice—can be used to understand platform control.