Reassembling an ecology of digital platforms: From interoperability towards convergence

The sociological analysis of digital platforms and infrastructures has almost always been carried out through methodological atomism. They have been observed as unconnected and isolated objects and the issue of their interconnection has been largely neglected. Yet, the topic of interoperability is very relevant today and calls for sociological contribution, especially in the wake of the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. This preliminary paper aims at experimenting with an ecological gaze on digital platforms and infrastructures. An attempt has thus been made to move the focus from the microscope slide isolating each platform to the wider interconnected ecological tangle they chorally perform. To observe reassemble the ecology, the technical concept of ‘interoperability’ has been followed and three stories of interoperability have been described. These stories have been collected at a large university in central Italy. The research shows that the interconnection between platforms happens as an intertwining of technical and social aspects. In the stories collected, interoperability is inscribed with values, hidden cultures, beliefs that express normative ideas and orders of value. Also, it is practically accomplished through collaborative processes, articulation of work and ruses. Digital platforms are thus performative not only as isolated entities: the convergence between platforms – i.e., the ecological ‘coming together’ of platforms – does work on the world too and is endowed with its own agency. Such convergence is dense with values, never detached from social processes, and happens around more or less opaque seams