{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,25]],"date-time":"2026-04-25T06:47:59Z","timestamp":1777099679231,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2009,9,1]],"date-time":"2009-09-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1251763200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["New Media &amp; Society"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2009,9]]},"abstract":"<jats:p> The movement toward what is often described as Web 2.0 is usually understood as a large-scale shift toward a participatory and collaborative version of the web, where users are able to get involved and create content. As things stand we have so far had little opportunity to explore how new forms of power play out in this context of apparent \u2018empowerment\u2019 and \u2018democratization\u2019. This article suggests that this is a pressing issue that requires urgent attention. To begin to open up this topic this article situates Web 2.0 in the context of the broader transformations that are occurring in new media by drawing on the work of a number of leading writers who, in various ways, consider the implications of software \u2018sinking\u2019 into and \u2018sorting\u2019 aspects of our everyday lives. The article begins with this broader literature before exploring in detail Scott Lash\u2019s notion of \u2018post-hegemonic power\u2019 and more specifically his concept of \u2018power through the algorithm\u2019. The piece concludes by discussing how this relates to work on Web 2.0 and how this work might be developed in the future. <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444809336551","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2009,9,7]],"date-time":"2009-09-07T11:27:48Z","timestamp":1252322868000},"page":"985-1002","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":488,"title":["Power through the algorithm? Participatory web cultures and the technological unconscious"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"David","family":"Beer","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of York, UK,"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2009,9,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"atypb1","author":"Baker, S.","year":"2006","journal-title":"Business Week"},{"key":"atypb2","volume-title":"Consuming Life","author":"Bauman, Z.","year":"2007"},{"key":"atypb3","author":"BBC","year":"2007","journal-title":"BBC website"},{"key":"atypb4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5153\/sro.1560"},{"key":"atypb5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x"},{"key":"atypb6","volume-title":"\u2018Web 2.0: Towards Collaborative Intelligence in the","author":"Bryant, L.","year":"2007"},{"key":"atypb7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Burrows, R. ( 2009) \u2018Afterword: Urban Informatics and Social Ontology\u2019 , in M. Foth (ed.) 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