The platformization of consumer culture - Dr Alessandro Caliandro, University of Pavia
Event Date: 1 November 2022
Speaker: Dr Alessandro Caliandro, University of Milano
Biography: Alessandro Caliandro (PhD, University of Milano) is an Associate Professor in Sociology of Culture and Communication at the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the University of Pavia where he teaches Digital Communication, Digital Journalism and Digital Consumer Culture. His current research focuses on digital methods, consumer culture, platformisation of culture, surveillance capitalism, and ageing & digital technologies. His forthcoming book is titled ‘The Platformization of Consumer Culture: A Digital Methods Guide’ (Amsterdam University Press).
Abstract: The talk is based on his forthcoming book, The Platformization of Consumer Culture: A Digital Methods Guide, which aims at providing the reader with a set of research strategies and techniques for using Digital Methods to explore the processes of platformization of consumer culture unfolding within digital environments. Since during the last decade most consumer activities migrated on digital platforms, consumer culture went gradually through a process of platformization (Duffy et al., 2020). As a result, the systems of meanings and practices consumers articulate around products, brands or services tend to be more and more shaped by the socio-technical architecture of digital environments themselves (Carah & Angus, 2018) – besides and beyond traditional social institutions, like classes (Bourdieu, 1984), subcultures (Schouten & McAlexander, 1995) or communities (Muniz & O’Guinn, 2001). Although social classes as well as consumer subcultures and communities still exist and exert a strong influence on consumer activities, such social formations have been profoundly reconfigured by the advent of digital media (Marres, 2017). Given these conditions, we argue that Digital Methods provide useful conceptual and practical tools to understand the emerging phenomenon of platformization of consumer culture.
This book offers a unique methodological guide for social and marketing scholars interested in understanding and using digital methods to explore the processes of platformization of consumer culture unfolding on digital media. The book introduces the reader to key digital methods concepts, strategies, and techniques through a set of ad hoc case studies focused on the most prominent digital platforms (such as YouTube, Spotify, or TikTok) as well as emerging trends in digital consumer culture (such as, the consumption of nostalgia, the radicalization of taste, or branded fake news).
Published: 30 October 2025
