Digital platforms, surveillance and processes of demoralization

Author:

Chai Sung Hwan1ORCID,Nicholson Brian12,Scapens Robert W13,Yang ChunLei1

Affiliation:

1. Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

2. Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

3. Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

Abstract

While digital platforms have become an increasingly important research area in the information systems discipline, the existing literature does not conceptualize a theoretical link between platforms and morality. This paper theorizes such a link by drawing on Jensen’s (2010) conceptualization of processes of demoralization to operationalize two notions from critical social theorist Zygmunt Bauman: workers’ moral impulse and moral ambivalence. We conducted a case study of a large luxury resort hotel to examine how digital platforms (specifically TripAdvisor and WhatsApp) facilitate surveillance. Our findings show how digital platform-facilitated synoptic and panoptic forms of surveillance can suppress workers’ moral impulse and foster moral ambivalence towards such issues as invading others’ privacy, pressuring others outside working hours, and increasing surveillance in the workplace. This paper offers a novel perspective on theorizing the links between digital platforms, surveillance, and workers’ morality and highlights some unintended consequences.

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Subject

Library and Information Sciences,Strategy and Management,Information Systems

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