David B. Nieborg
@nieborg.bsky.social
Professor of Media Studies @UofT • Books: Platforms & Cultural Production (Polity) • Mainstreaming & Game Journalism (MIT Press) • Toronto/Amsterdam
Reposted by David B. Nieborg
Hot off the press: Chris J Young, Daniel J Joseph and @nieborg.bsky.social trace a platform historiography of #Unity to discuss how workflows create dexterous corporate lockins in cultural production journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... enjoy!
September 16, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Hot off the press: Chris J Young, Daniel J Joseph and @nieborg.bsky.social trace a platform historiography of #Unity to discuss how workflows create dexterous corporate lockins in cultural production journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... enjoy!
Reposted by David B. Nieborg
Another kind review of our work by Andreas Rauscher about @nieborg.bsky.social and my book! For those who speak German, this may be a good one for you: mediarep.org/server/api/c...
mediarep.org
September 9, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Another kind review of our work by Andreas Rauscher about @nieborg.bsky.social and my book! For those who speak German, this may be a good one for you: mediarep.org/server/api/c...
Reposted by David B. Nieborg
New on H-Sci-Med-Tech:
Check out Gabriel Antúnez De Mayolo Kou (UWisconsin-La Crosse)’s review of @nieborg.bsky.social (@utoronto.ca) & @maxwellfoxman.bsky.social (@uoregon.bsky.social)’s book _Mainstreaming & Game Journalism_ (2023) @mitpress.bsky.social
Review avail @hnetreviews.bsky.social
Check out Gabriel Antúnez De Mayolo Kou (UWisconsin-La Crosse)’s review of @nieborg.bsky.social (@utoronto.ca) & @maxwellfoxman.bsky.social (@uoregon.bsky.social)’s book _Mainstreaming & Game Journalism_ (2023) @mitpress.bsky.social
Review avail @hnetreviews.bsky.social
September 2, 2025 at 12:40 PM
New on H-Sci-Med-Tech:
Check out Gabriel Antúnez De Mayolo Kou (UWisconsin-La Crosse)’s review of @nieborg.bsky.social (@utoronto.ca) & @maxwellfoxman.bsky.social (@uoregon.bsky.social)’s book _Mainstreaming & Game Journalism_ (2023) @mitpress.bsky.social
Review avail @hnetreviews.bsky.social
Check out Gabriel Antúnez De Mayolo Kou (UWisconsin-La Crosse)’s review of @nieborg.bsky.social (@utoronto.ca) & @maxwellfoxman.bsky.social (@uoregon.bsky.social)’s book _Mainstreaming & Game Journalism_ (2023) @mitpress.bsky.social
Review avail @hnetreviews.bsky.social
ICYMI: the special issue "on TikTok creators and digital economies" in which Kaushar Mahetaji and I have a paper on TikTok's historical development as "platform tool" is out now. Here's the introduction: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... (& here's our paper: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....)
Special issue introduction: reflecting on TikTok creators and digital economies
From global trends to record-breaking growth, TikTok provides new playgrounds for popular culture, low barrier participation in public life, and new forces of creator labour that are reshaping cult...
www.tandfonline.com
August 28, 2025 at 7:00 PM
ICYMI: the special issue "on TikTok creators and digital economies" in which Kaushar Mahetaji and I have a paper on TikTok's historical development as "platform tool" is out now. Here's the introduction: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... (& here's our paper: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....)
Reposted by David B. Nieborg
In our new article with @producing2power.bsky.social, we examine the tensions and labor dynamics faced by Latin American influencers working in the U.S. Published in the @ijcs-journal.bsky.social.
What are the impediments faced by diasporic influencers? Learn about how racial discourses shape and challenge creator cultures in this article from @arturoarriagada.bsky.social & @producing2power.bsky.social:
buff.ly
August 24, 2025 at 4:58 PM
In our new article with @producing2power.bsky.social, we examine the tensions and labor dynamics faced by Latin American influencers working in the U.S. Published in the @ijcs-journal.bsky.social.
Reposted by David B. Nieborg
Read Jim’s book! Short review is it’s very good if you’re interested in game tools!
Thanks so much to @maxwellfoxman.bsky.social for this generous review of Enacting Platforms! ijoc.org/index.php/ij...
James Malazita, Enacting Platforms: Feminist Technoscience and the Unreal Engine | Foxman | International Journal of Communication
James Malazita, Enacting Platforms: Feminist Technoscience and the Unreal Engine
ijoc.org
August 18, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Read Jim’s book! Short review is it’s very good if you’re interested in game tools!
Reposted by David B. Nieborg
Dear universities,
I am begging you to stop requiring letters of recommendation for master's programmes. You and I both know you don't read them, so stop asking for them.
Instead, have applicants list a name and get in touch if it's a borderline case.
Signed,
Everyone.
I am begging you to stop requiring letters of recommendation for master's programmes. You and I both know you don't read them, so stop asking for them.
Instead, have applicants list a name and get in touch if it's a borderline case.
Signed,
Everyone.
July 28, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Dear universities,
I am begging you to stop requiring letters of recommendation for master's programmes. You and I both know you don't read them, so stop asking for them.
Instead, have applicants list a name and get in touch if it's a borderline case.
Signed,
Everyone.
I am begging you to stop requiring letters of recommendation for master's programmes. You and I both know you don't read them, so stop asking for them.
Instead, have applicants list a name and get in touch if it's a borderline case.
Signed,
Everyone.
Reposted by David B. Nieborg
"No taxes on tips" was supposed to help low-wage workers, but because of the platforms used for tipping and Trump's steamrolling of data protections, it may instead
have dire consequences for them.
@hannahwohl.bsky.social, Lindsey Cameron, & I in Newsweek today. tinyurl.com/yc27dah7
have dire consequences for them.
@hannahwohl.bsky.social, Lindsey Cameron, & I in Newsweek today. tinyurl.com/yc27dah7
The Hidden Dangers of Eliminating Taxes on Tips | Opinion
Instead of holding consumers accountable for sharing their data responsibly as privacy laws currently do, we must hold platform companies and our government accountable for the responsible stewardship...
www.newsweek.com
July 24, 2025 at 2:29 PM
"No taxes on tips" was supposed to help low-wage workers, but because of the platforms used for tipping and Trump's steamrolling of data protections, it may instead
have dire consequences for them.
@hannahwohl.bsky.social, Lindsey Cameron, & I in Newsweek today. tinyurl.com/yc27dah7
have dire consequences for them.
@hannahwohl.bsky.social, Lindsey Cameron, & I in Newsweek today. tinyurl.com/yc27dah7
Reposted by David B. Nieborg
This is really great, and a good reminder to every academic to always resist saying the reason your own research matters is because ‘no one else has done it’. It’s almost certainly wrong and, even if true, not a good reason for doing it being worthwhile.
I wrote something new for History Respawned today. It's a review of a new book about Red Dead, but it's really about academic writing and historical game studies as a field. Please read, but also know, I really really really really REALLY didn't want to write this review.
Reviewer 2's Review of Red Dead's History — History Respawned
I promised myself I would never write a negative book review. I promised my PhD advisor I would never write a negative book review. I promised I would always find a silver lining in any piece of aca...
www.historyrespawned.com
July 21, 2025 at 10:56 PM
This is really great, and a good reminder to every academic to always resist saying the reason your own research matters is because ‘no one else has done it’. It’s almost certainly wrong and, even if true, not a good reason for doing it being worthwhile.
Reposted by David B. Nieborg
🎺🎺 New draft paper 🎺🎺
From Murdoch to Musk: Social media ownership and the political economy of platform content governance
The question is simple: who owns the major social media companies, and how do these owners influence content governance outcomes?
osf.io/preprints/os...
From Murdoch to Musk: Social media ownership and the political economy of platform content governance
The question is simple: who owns the major social media companies, and how do these owners influence content governance outcomes?
osf.io/preprints/os...
OSF
osf.io
July 9, 2025 at 4:36 PM
🎺🎺 New draft paper 🎺🎺
From Murdoch to Musk: Social media ownership and the political economy of platform content governance
The question is simple: who owns the major social media companies, and how do these owners influence content governance outcomes?
osf.io/preprints/os...
From Murdoch to Musk: Social media ownership and the political economy of platform content governance
The question is simple: who owns the major social media companies, and how do these owners influence content governance outcomes?
osf.io/preprints/os...
It's official. I've been promoted to Full Professor at @uoft.bsky.social! Grateful to all those who made this happen.
June 26, 2025 at 1:56 PM
It's official. I've been promoted to Full Professor at @uoft.bsky.social! Grateful to all those who made this happen.
Reposted by David B. Nieborg
💥 New article: Labour and migration in the games industry: circulation of workers and struggles across Brazilian and British contexts, with André Campos Rocha and Jamie Woodcock in Globalizations journal.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
June 11, 2025 at 3:22 PM
💥 New article: Labour and migration in the games industry: circulation of workers and struggles across Brazilian and British contexts, with André Campos Rocha and Jamie Woodcock in Globalizations journal.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by David B. Nieborg
Tip for PhD applicants reaching out to prospective advisors: Don’t use an LLM to write these emails. It’s not a great first impression to express your admiration for a recent paper the faculty member published if that paper does not exist.
June 5, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Tip for PhD applicants reaching out to prospective advisors: Don’t use an LLM to write these emails. It’s not a great first impression to express your admiration for a recent paper the faculty member published if that paper does not exist.
Reposted by David B. Nieborg
Just out! Open access article with @nieborg.bsky.social on "Analyzing institutional platform power" journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.... #power #platforms #digital #bigtech Preparing the ground for our book on Platform Power!
Analyzing institutional platform power: Evolving relations of dependence in the mobile digital advertising ecosystem - David B Nieborg, Thomas Poell, 2025
This article calls for systematic analysis of the accumulation and exercise of institutional platform power in the digital economy. We examine how the relativel...
journals.sagepub.com
April 7, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Just out! Open access article with @nieborg.bsky.social on "Analyzing institutional platform power" journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.... #power #platforms #digital #bigtech Preparing the ground for our book on Platform Power!