Resilience in the gig economy: digital skills
in online freelancing
Dublin Core
Title
Resilience in the gig economy: digital skills
in online freelancing
in online freelancing
Subject
gig economy, online freelancing, digital skills, digital literacy, precarity, resilience.
Description
Research on digital inequality suggests that digital skills are integral to participation on gig platforms. Focusing on the case of online freelancing,
this article asks what such skills look like and how gig workers translate them into opportunities. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with
21 U.S. online freelancers, I identify moments in which participants approach the gig platform differently because of their digital skills. I find that
digital skills enable online freelancers to (1) optimize their use of platform tools, (2) construct alternative pathways when existing tools malfunc-
tion, and (3) imagine and blaze new paths that go beyond the platform’s current functionality. These findings suggest that, in the volatile context
of gig platforms, digital skills entail not only the ability to leverage platform tools as designed but also the capacity to creatively navigate situa-
tions in which the online environment changes, breaks, or proves inadequate for their needs.
this article asks what such skills look like and how gig workers translate them into opportunities. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with
21 U.S. online freelancers, I identify moments in which participants approach the gig platform differently because of their digital skills. I find that
digital skills enable online freelancers to (1) optimize their use of platform tools, (2) construct alternative pathways when existing tools malfunc-
tion, and (3) imagine and blaze new paths that go beyond the platform’s current functionality. These findings suggest that, in the volatile context
of gig platforms, digital skills entail not only the ability to leverage platform tools as designed but also the capacity to creatively navigate situa-
tions in which the online environment changes, breaks, or proves inadequate for their needs.
Creator
Floor Fiers
Source
https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmae014
Publisher
Oxford University Press on behalf of International Communication Association.
Date
July 11, 2024
Contributor
PERI IRAWAN
Format
PDF
Language
ENGLISH
Type
TEXT
Files
Collection
Citation
Floor Fiers, “Resilience in the gig economy: digital skills
in online freelancing,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed October 31, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/8789.
in online freelancing,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed October 31, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/8789.