Organizing Work on Creative Crowdwork Platforms: A Practice Perspective

Abstract

The world of work is changing fast with the increasing popularity of platform-mediated work. Despite platform workers being the fastest growing segment in the alternative workforce, there is little known about how work is organized on gig economy platforms that operate under conditions of employment, scheduling and location flexibility. This paper explores how work is organized on crowdwork platforms with Topcoder serving as a case of a successful platform. Our findings demonstrate that professional socialization and career development are the main practices that organize employment relationship flexibility; time, budget, and task management are the main practices that organize scheduling flexibility; and virtual communication and cultivating work friendships are the main practices that organize location flexibility. Furthermore, we find that the combination of these practices can generate psychological safety for both workers and job providers, despite the usual risks involved in the gig and crowdwork arrangements.