Digital economy and platform ideologies

A research focus on the relation between the base and superstructure, especially in the context of digital economy and digital culture, is still productive today. Precondition: avoid a mechanic or monolithic view on this relation. Any a priori theorization will eventually derail. But base and superstructure are useful and productive as sensitizing concepts (van den Hoonaard, 1997; Maly, 2022) in a digital ethnographic approach. In the remainder of this article I want to show how those concepts can be utilized to make sense of the ideological role of digital platforms in contemporary societies.