The Concept of Platform Capitalism as an Analytical Tool for Studying Creativity in the Digital Age: the Ukrainian Context

Abstract

The article examines the transformation of creative labor in the digital economy through the prism of platform capitalism (Srnicek) and knowledge capitalization (Leydesdorff) concepts. The authors analyze how digital platforms (YouTube, TikTok, Spotify, Patreon, etc.) not only provide the infrastructure for content distribution, but also actively intervene in the processes of its formation, setting the logic of algorithmic management, standardization, and monetization of creativity. Particular attention is paid to the Ukrainian context: the platformization of creative labor is taking place in conditions of war, “digital mobilization” of culture, institutional instability, and infrastructural vulnerability, which requires specific adaptation of Western models of analysis to local realities. The authors demonstrate that platforms transform not only the forms of creativity, but also their socio-economic significance: creativity becomes a source of data, an economic unit, and an object of exploitation. At the same time, it loses its autonomy, finding itself within new forms of digital inequality. Using the example of Ukrainian startups, educational initiatives, and creative studios (particularly in the UNIT.City environment), the authors show how the “knowledge economy” is realized in the form of digital products based on scientific developments, cultural content, and algorithmic logic. The proposed perspective opens broad opportunities for further empirical research, including the study of the specifics of interaction between platforms, creators, and audiences in the context of Ukraine’s digital post-war reality. This includes analyzing new forms of cultural production in digital ecosystems, the dynamics of income distribution, transformations in the professional strategies of creators, and the impact of algorithmic selection on the visibility and diversity of content. All this creates a foundation for developing more equitable models for the functioning of the creative economy in the digital age.