Network effects often mask companies' aggressive corporate conduct [definitional]
- Network effect is the term/belief that the value of a service increases in relation to its number of users, and is often the reason given for the success of companies like Facebook, Airbnb, or Uber—and not, say, their aggressive, often illegal corporate conduct.
DEFINE: Defines network effect and immediately subverts it by pointing out it masks illegal corporate conduct.
XREF: Connects to critiques of platform capitalism and the 'survivorship' narrative around tech success.
Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, loc. 544