Comment on Elena Pavan/1: Considering Platforms as Actors

Argues that platforms must be understood as actors in network analysis, not merely as neutral infrastructure through which social action flows. Their algorithms, APIs, and personalization features actively shape the networks they host, making the platform itself a node of power rather than a passive medium.

Challenges network analysis to account for platforms as actors, not passive infrastructure but entities that actively shape the networks they host. If platforms are actors, then network analysis without accounting for platform agency produces systematically incomplete knowledge about the social structures being studied.