The Platform Mirage: How Streaming Services Define User Identity and Agency

This essay explores how video streaming platforms like Netflix and YouTube shape user identity and agency within the framework of platform capitalism. It examines how these platforms utilize data-driven infrastructures, content moderation, and the “platform” metaphor to create curated environments that influence user behavior. By promoting illusions of autonomy and individuality while prioritizing corporate objectives, streaming platforms manipulate user interactions and perceptions. This analysis calls for greater transparency and alternative platform structures to balance corporate control with genuine user agency.