Resilience in the gig economy: digital skills in online freelancing
基于对美国21名在线自由职业者的访谈，研究发现数字技能帮助他们优化平台工具使用、在工具失灵时另辟蹊径，并创造超越现有功能的新路径，从而在平台环境的波动中保持韧性。
Abstract 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 malfunction, 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 situations in which the online environment changes, breaks, or proves inadequate for their needs.