Admins, mods, and benevolent dictators for life: The implicit feudalism of online communities

Online platforms train users to interact with each other through certain widespread interface designs. This article argues that an implicit feudalism informs the available options for community management on the dominant platforms for online communities. It is a pattern that grants user-administrators absolutist reign over their fiefdoms, with competition among them as the primary mechanism for quality control, typically under rules set by platform companies. Implicit feudalism emerged from technical conditions dating to early online networks. In light of alternative management mechanisms with more democratic features, it becomes all the more clear that implicit feudalism is not a necessary condition.

Automated summary

The article argues that there is an implicit feudalism on dominant online platforms for community management, where user-administrators compete with each other under rules set by platform companies. This feudalistic pattern emerged from technical conditions dating to early online networks, but it is not a necessary condition as there are alternative management mechanisms with more democratic features.