Strategies for communicating and mitigating algorithmic control on delivery platforms

Abstract

Delivery platforms use algorithmic control mechanisms to control couriers’ work. Despite studies looking at how algorithmic control manifests on different delivery platforms, there is a dearth of research exploring how delivery platforms communicate their approaches to algorithmic control, what kinds of strategies delivery workers adopt to mitigate algorithmic control, and to what extent information regarding such ‘algoactivistic approaches’ is shared among communities of delivery couriers who in many cases are in direct competition with one another. To that end, two studies are conducted. Study 1 analyses five publicly listed delivery companies’ annual reports (n = 14), highlighting a lack of transparency on how the platforms’ algorithms function. In Study 2, a netnographic approach is used to conduct interviews (n = 12) and a qualitative analysis of delivery workers’ online discussion forum posts (n = 830) on the discussion forum Reddit. Four approaches to mitigating algorithmic control are found, and the way these are shared among couriers is considered.