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……
Prelude: Perfectly coordinated
Urban landscape is ever changing. Living in the city might mean encountering something new, or to be precise, moving with something new. Intersecting movements are what makes cities a living organism. Countless number of people and various modes of transports move in different directions at different paces. A few years ago, new things joined these……