Understanding the Concept of Platform Control in the Context of Content Creators: Initial Insights from Scale Development

In the digital era, platform work has become prevalent, with millions of individuals striving to become influencers on popular social media platforms, like YouTube and Instagram. However, despite its benefits, platform work ex-poses content creators to the pervasive influence of algorithms that exert control over their activities. With content creation rapidly developing into a booming industry, there is a pressing need to better understand content creators’ perceptions of platform control, including its dimensionality and implications for creators’ well-being, performance, and creativity. Developed as part of a larger re-search project, we present the initial steps of the scale development process for platform control in this research-in-progress paper. This initial step contributes to a better understanding of the evolving landscape of digital work and its broader implications for individuals and society.