Admins, mods, and benevolent dictators for life: The implicit feudalism of online communities

Nathan Schneider 2022. Admins, mods, and benevolent dictators for life: The implicit feudalism of online communities. New Media & Society. 24 (9), pp. 1965 - 1985. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820986553

TitleAdmins, mods, and benevolent dictators for life: The implicit feudalism of online communities
TypeJournal article
AuthorsNathan Schneider
Abstract

Online platforms train users to interact with each other through certain widespread interface designs. This article argues that an “implicit feudalism” informs the available options for community management on the dominant platforms for online communities. It is a pattern that grants user-administrators absolutist reign over their fiefdoms, with competition among them as the primary mechanism for quality control, typically under rules set by platform companies. Implicit feudalism emerged from technical conditions dating to early online networks. In light of alternative management mechanisms with more democratic features, it becomes all the more clear that implicit feudalism is not a necessary condition.

JournalNew Media & Society
Journal citation24 (9), pp. 1965 - 1985
ISSN1461-4448
1461-7315
Year2022
PublisherSage
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820986553
Web address (URL)https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820986553
Publication dates
PublishedSep 2022

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