“Why lose control?” A Study of Freelancers’ Experiences with Gig Economy Platforms

Juan Alvarez De La Vega; Marta Cecchinato; John Rooksby

doi:10.1145/3411764.3445305

“Why lose control?” A Study of Freelancers’ Experiences with Gig Economy Platforms

Juan Alvarez De La Vega, Marta Cecchinato, John Rooksby

Computer Information Sciences Department

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

34 Citations (Scopus)

2528 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Freelancing platforms, such as Upwork, represent an expansion of the gig economy to encompass knowledge-based work. Prior research in HCI has primarily focused on forms of gig work such as ride-sharing and microwork but has not addressed how freelancing platforms are disrupting high-skilled knowledge work. To understand freelancers’ perspectives on how these platforms are disrupting their work we have collected and thematically analysed 528 posts with 7499 comments from four relevant subforums on Reddit. The qualitative findings reveal tensions between wanting autonomy and control and the necessity of opportunities and convenience. Freelancing platforms are perceived as systems that present advantages to find clients, gain experience and mitigate precarity. However, these platforms constrain the control over their work that freelancers value. The paper contributes an improved understanding of freelance work, the role and potential for freelancing platforms in the knowledge-based gig economy, and directions for worker-centred design.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	CHI '21
Subtitle of host publication	Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Editors	Yoshifumi Kitamura, Aaron Quigley, Katherine Isbister, Takeo Igarashi, Pernille Bjørn, Steven Drucker
Place of Publication	New York
Publisher	ACM
Pages	1-14
Number of pages	14
ISBN (Print)	9781450380966
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445305
Publication status	Published - 6 May 2021
Event	ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2021) - Online, Yokohama, Japan Duration: 8 May 2021 → 13 May 2021 https://chi2021.acm.org/ https://chi2021.acm.org

Conference

Conference	ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2021)
Abbreviated title	CHI 2021
Country/Territory	Japan
City	Yokohama
Period	8/05/21 → 13/05/21
Internet address	https://chi2021.acm.org/ https://chi2021.acm.org

Keywords

Future of work
Gig economy
Freelancing platforms
Freelance work
Worker-centred design
Upwork
Fiverr
Reddit

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10.1145/3411764.3445305

Why-lose-control-Alvarez-Cecchinato-Rooksby-21Accepted author manuscript, 880 KB

Cite this

Alvarez De La Vega, J., Cecchinato, M., & Rooksby, J. (2021). “Why lose control?” A Study of Freelancers’ Experiences with Gig Economy Platforms. In Y. Kitamura, A. Quigley, K. Isbister, T. Igarashi, P. Bjørn, & S. Drucker (Eds.), CHI '21: Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-14). Article 455 ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445305

Alvarez De La Vega, Juan ; Cecchinato, Marta ; Rooksby, John. / “Why lose control?” A Study of Freelancers’ Experiences with Gig Economy Platforms. CHI '21: Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. editor / Yoshifumi Kitamura ; Aaron Quigley ; Katherine Isbister ; Takeo Igarashi ; Pernille Bjørn ; Steven Drucker. New York : ACM, 2021. pp. 1-14

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title = "“Why lose control?” A Study of Freelancers{\textquoteright} Experiences with Gig Economy Platforms",

abstract = "Freelancing platforms, such as Upwork, represent an expansion of the gig economy to encompass knowledge-based work. Prior research in HCI has primarily focused on forms of gig work such as ride-sharing and microwork but has not addressed how freelancing platforms are disrupting high-skilled knowledge work. To understand freelancers{\textquoteright} perspectives on how these platforms are disrupting their work we have collected and thematically analysed 528 posts with 7499 comments from four relevant subforums on Reddit. The qualitative findings reveal tensions between wanting autonomy and control and the necessity of opportunities and convenience. Freelancing platforms are perceived as systems that present advantages to find clients, gain experience and mitigate precarity. However, these platforms constrain the control over their work that freelancers value. The paper contributes an improved understanding of freelance work, the role and potential for freelancing platforms in the knowledge-based gig economy, and directions for worker-centred design. ",

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note = "Our deep appreciation goes out to all the freelancers on the freelancing Reddit subforums whose thoughts and words are used in this article. We thank NORTH Lab, at Northumbria University, and our reviewers for their helpful feedback. This work is funded by a Northumbria University RDF studentship.; ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2021), CHI 2021 ; Conference date: 08-05-2021 Through 13-05-2021",

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Alvarez De La Vega, J, Cecchinato, M & Rooksby, J 2021, “Why lose control?” A Study of Freelancers’ Experiences with Gig Economy Platforms. in Y Kitamura, A Quigley, K Isbister, T Igarashi, P Bjørn & S Drucker (eds), CHI '21: Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems., 455, ACM, New York, pp. 1-14, ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2021), Yokohama, Japan, 8/05/21. https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445305

“Why lose control?” A Study of Freelancers’ Experiences with Gig Economy Platforms. / Alvarez De La Vega, Juan; Cecchinato, Marta ; Rooksby, John.
CHI '21: Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ed. / Yoshifumi Kitamura; Aaron Quigley; Katherine Isbister; Takeo Igarashi; Pernille Bjørn; Steven Drucker. New York: ACM, 2021. p. 1-14 455.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

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T1 - “Why lose control?” A Study of Freelancers’ Experiences with Gig Economy Platforms

AU - Alvarez De La Vega, Juan

AU - Cecchinato, Marta

AU - Rooksby, John

N1 - Our deep appreciation goes out to all the freelancers on the freelancing Reddit subforums whose thoughts and words are used in this article. We thank NORTH Lab, at Northumbria University, and our reviewers for their helpful feedback. This work is funded by a Northumbria University RDF studentship.

PY - 2021/5/6

Y1 - 2021/5/6

N2 - Freelancing platforms, such as Upwork, represent an expansion of the gig economy to encompass knowledge-based work. Prior research in HCI has primarily focused on forms of gig work such as ride-sharing and microwork but has not addressed how freelancing platforms are disrupting high-skilled knowledge work. To understand freelancers’ perspectives on how these platforms are disrupting their work we have collected and thematically analysed 528 posts with 7499 comments from four relevant subforums on Reddit. The qualitative findings reveal tensions between wanting autonomy and control and the necessity of opportunities and convenience. Freelancing platforms are perceived as systems that present advantages to find clients, gain experience and mitigate precarity. However, these platforms constrain the control over their work that freelancers value. The paper contributes an improved understanding of freelance work, the role and potential for freelancing platforms in the knowledge-based gig economy, and directions for worker-centred design.

AB - Freelancing platforms, such as Upwork, represent an expansion of the gig economy to encompass knowledge-based work. Prior research in HCI has primarily focused on forms of gig work such as ride-sharing and microwork but has not addressed how freelancing platforms are disrupting high-skilled knowledge work. To understand freelancers’ perspectives on how these platforms are disrupting their work we have collected and thematically analysed 528 posts with 7499 comments from four relevant subforums on Reddit. The qualitative findings reveal tensions between wanting autonomy and control and the necessity of opportunities and convenience. Freelancing platforms are perceived as systems that present advantages to find clients, gain experience and mitigate precarity. However, these platforms constrain the control over their work that freelancers value. The paper contributes an improved understanding of freelance work, the role and potential for freelancing platforms in the knowledge-based gig economy, and directions for worker-centred design.

KW - Future of work

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KW - Freelance work

KW - Worker-centred design

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KW - Fiverr

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M3 - Conference contribution

SN - 9781450380966

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EP - 14

BT - CHI '21

A2 - Kitamura, Yoshifumi

A2 - Quigley, Aaron

A2 - Isbister, Katherine

A2 - Igarashi, Takeo

A2 - Bjørn, Pernille

A2 - Drucker, Steven

PB - ACM

CY - New York

T2 - ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2021)

Y2 - 8 May 2021 through 13 May 2021

ER -

“Why lose control?” A Study of Freelancers’ Experiences with Gig Economy Platforms

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Keywords

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