ABSTRACT. A new phenomenon of digital labor in the creator economy has been created in the wake of increased decentralized platforms, which are issued on Web3 and blockchain technology. This study examines how the decentralized platforms are challenging the labor governance by looking at the aspects of autonomy of creators, their payment and decision-making authority. By applying a main quantitative data collection technique, the researcher questioned 52 active digital creators using an 8 questions survey on a 5 points-optometer scale. The axis of questions dwelled on essential topics of work control, reasonable compensation, ownership of data, smart contracts as a type of transparency, platform security, their governance, work climate, grievance systems. The results show signs of great positive attitude to greater freedom and more equal distribution of income in decentralized platforms. The majority of the respondents shared the opinion that blockchain can be used to increase transparency and that the tokens-based systems can offer more equitable compensation. It was also noted that the participants liked being in control of their content and information. But there are also the areas of concern on the survey. A major part of the respondents was unconfident or unhappy with governance system such as DAOs and with the few redressal mechanisms of grievanes present within these sites. As concluded in the study, although decentralized platforms are the potential powerhouse in empowering creators and enhancing digital labor conditions, governance issues cannot be ignored. Such constraints should be overcome, so decentralized ecosystems can be sustained over the long term and so creators trust them.

Keywords: decentralized platforms; creator economy; digital labor governance; Web3; token-based compensation; smart contracts

How to cite: Pârvu, I. A., Poliakova, A., AlAkoum, A., and Samoilă, A. (2023). “Decentralized Platforms and the Rise of the Creator Economy: Redefining Digital Labor Governance,” Smart Governance 2(2): 69–82. doi: 10.22381/sg2220235.

Received 19 February 2023 • Received in revised form 22 June 2023
Accepted 26 June 2023 • Available online 28 June 2023