This essay synthesizes the main findings from the studies by InABLE, Technoprise Global, and Story x Design and offers Caribou Digital’s reflections, connecting the findings to the broader trend of platform livelihoods, addressing implications both specifically for young people with disabilities in Kenya, as well as for the shift to platform livelihoods more broadly. These five core reflections are:
• Individual profiles hide critical collaborations and the need for human assistance.
• Sellers often start, and often stay, with social commerce.
• It’s a challenge to balance privacy and disclosure, a possible opportunity for more inclusive design by e-commerce platforms.
• The intersections of gender, disability, and platform work remain open and urge new questions. And
• It may be time to see platforms not just as sales channels, but also as workplaces
