The social construction of algorithms: A reassessment of algorithmic management in food delivery gig work
通过访谈、民族志和聊天分析，研究了平台配送工作中两种分配算法的社会建构过程，揭示了工人如何基于假设和经验形成关于算法的理论，并受其指导实践，同时指出算法的本体生成特性赋予工人有限的能动性。
Abstract Algorithms are usually regarded as fixed objects. In contrast, the article conceptualises and analyses the (social) construction of algorithmic management. By means of interviews, ethnography and analyses of chats, two allocation algorithms in platform‐mediated courier work are examined. Different levels of algorithm construction are identified and a conceptual framework is developed to analyse the connections between the workers' technological frames, theories and practices. It is shown that the couriers develop theories about the algorithms' mode of operation based on their assumptions and experiences, and that their practices are guided by these theories. As a result, it becomes apparent how workers develop false theories about the algorithms' mechanisms due to their opacity, which effectively disciplines their actions. However, the paper further describes how the ontogenetic nature of algorithms gives workers limited but existing agency in their interactions with technologies.