Seeking Help – How an Online Community Enacts Support for Dissatisfied Platform Workers

When dissatisfied with an online labour platform (OLP) and considering discontinuing its use, users might turn to their peers for support. Earlier research has found that community participation generally increases users’ commitment to the OLP and their platform earnings, with peers’ social support specifically contributing positively to continued platform use. However, the practical unfolding of this support remains not fully understood. We examined how users of Upwork (a large OLP) react to their fellow users’ dissatisfaction expressed as a willingness to quit or switch the platform on an unofficial Upwork discussion forum. We identified four distinct ways in which Upwork users enact social support: amplifying dissatisfaction, encouraging continued platform use, encouraging discontinuance or diversification, and reframing expectations and perceptions. While our findings largely align with extant research, we also observed contrarian examples where social support could encourage discontinuance. Keywords: Platform Dissatisfaction, Social Influence, Social Support, Enacted Support