The mediatization of work? Gig workers and gig apps in Sweden

Abstract

This article presents a study of how and to what extent gig workers in Sweden experience a mediatization of work. We contend that previous mediatization research has assumed extensive and unified effects of mediatization, and that previous gig work research has focused on users of large-scale, transnational platforms. We conducted a set of qualitative, semi-structured interviews (N = 28) with Swedish users of four different gig apps (all produced by very small companies active only in Sweden). We analyzed their experiences of mediatization along five dimensions: extension, substitution, amalgamation, accommodation, and datafication. We found that our respondents had much more varied, far less all-encompassing, experiences of mediatization than indicated in previous research. We also found respondents’ experiences clearly framed by the smaller size of the local, Swedish gig work companies.