Uberland : how algorithms are rewriting the rules of work / Alex Rosenblat.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-260) and index.

Introduction : using an app to go to work-Uber as a symbol of the new economy -- Workers as digital pawns : how Uber uses the sharing economy to exploit everyone -- Motivations to drive : how Uber creates jobs for many at the expense of a few -- Grandiose promises : how Uber proposes entrepreneurship to the masses -- The shady middleman : how Uber plays broker to line its pockets -- Behind the curtain : how Uber rules drivers with algorithms -- In the big leagues : how Uber plays ball -- Conclusion : the new age of Uber-how technology consumption rewrote the rules of work -- Appendix 1. methodology : how I studied Uber -- Appendix 2. ridehailing beyond Uber : meet Lyft, the younger twin.

"A silent cultural revolution is reshaping how we will work for generations to come--and Uber is leading it. The Silicon Valley start-up has become a juggernaut of the sharing economy, promising drivers the opportunity to be entrepreneurs but managing them with algorithms and treating them like consumers. The billion-dollar global behemoth has upended our expectations about what it means to work in a society mediated by digital circuitry. Technology ethnographer Alex Rosenblat shares her award-winning research on how algorithm managers are creating profound social and cultural shifts. Uber is now affecting everything from family life, management practices, and urban planning to racial equality campaigns and labor rights initiatives. Based on Rosenblat's firsthand experience of riding 5,000 miles with Uber drivers, daily visits to online forums from 2014 to 2018, and face-to-face discussions with senior Uber employees, Uberland goes beyond the headlines and deciphers the complex relationship between algorithms and workers. Technology enables Uber to call labor 'consumption' and thereby skirt regulations, experiment with working conditions, and mislead the public about driver earnings. Using algorithms and rhetoric, Uber and other big tech companies are blurring the line between worker and consumer and rewriting the rules of law and society"--Provided by publisher.