Platform Promises VS. Lived Experiences: A Case Study of Gig Work in India using Youtube Evidence

Abstract

Through connecting demand for idle capacities such as labour, assets, and time with
each other, platforms have improved the efficiency of underutilized resources and
changed traditional economic structures, while providing flexible employment in
developing economies, such as India.1 Therefore, platform-based work has become
an important source of economic participation by allowing individuals to produce
income-generating activities and have a lower barrier than other forms of job creation.
Digital platforms including Urban Company, Blinkit, Instamart, etc., have become
known as enablers of livelihood generation for all individuals by actively promoting
the opportunities to earn an income using their services through advertising and
outreach. As a result, through using their services, individuals with technical and
vocational skills, such as hairdressers, repair technicians for appliances, and those in
other low to medium skilled positions, are able to develop a broader client base and
make more money than before.
Although many of these claims are true; however, they do not tell the full story with
regard to what it is like to work on the ground. The promise of earning more money
via digital platforms only creates many of the same rigidities that the traditional
economy created, including algorithmic management, performance pressure, job
insecurity and lack social protections - which have been widely reported by workers
via YouTube and other online media. These personal experiences provide an alternate
viewpoint than that which is offered by promotion material.
Media plays an important role in connecting global ambitions with local experiences.
A case study approach is taken to study Urban Company partners, through the use
of YouTube videos, to demonstrate the realities of life on the ground, and critically
compare these lived realities against broader corporate claims and narratives.