Couriers greet each other (if they greet) by saying, ‘are there any calls?’, especially at the edges of peak times and during low seasons when the supply of couriers is excessive. Waiting for a call, combined with information asymmetry, materialises as coerced immobility or aimless roaming. The Baemin Connect app only displays the message ‘Searching……
Tag: platform work
Platform work pays fairly, says K-Meritocracy
Among Baemin couriers, there exists a belief that food delivery work rewards fairly—despite the obscure algorithms—compared to other types of work. As an online business owner, Minsu’s income depends on unpredictable demand from customers. Delivering with Baemin at least lets him earn money as much as he ‘burns his time [as in burning wood guarantees heat’. He added,……
A ceaselessly flowing city, tetheredly moving couriers: the case of Baemin delivery platform workers in Seoul
Re-posted from Backchannels, 4S blog: head here for the original post Digital platforms are increasingly taking over the operation of critical urban services (Barns 2019; Sadowski 2021). Notably, food delivery platforms, acclaimed as playing an infrastructural role during the COVID-19 pandemic by mediating delivery of food to immobilised populations, continue to proliferate in many cities across……
Introduction: The Smart City in Motion
The colossal buildings lining the boulevard in Hongdae light up the night sky with neon. But it’s not just the sky that shines. Every street, every alleyway, flashes and bounces with moving lights from all kinds of vehicles. Motorbikes, bicycles, small-wheeled electric bicycles, electric scooters, and electric unicycles bustle around. Each carries a delivery box……
Prelude: Perfectly coordinated
Urban landscape is ever-changing. Living in a city might mean encountering something new, or more specifically, moving with something new. Intersecting movements are what makes a city a living organism. Countless people and various forms of transport move in different directions at different paces. A few years ago, new things joined these urban movements – riders……