The platformization of affective spaces: NetEase Cloud Music's appropriation and governance of users’ emotions

This article explores the platformization of affective spaces through a case study of the Chinese music streaming platform NetEase Cloud Music (NCM). This conceptualization refers to the process by which digital platforms mediate affective spaces through technological affordances, business strategies, and governance models, particularly within China's distinctive digital ecology and sociopolitical context. Drawing on the walkthrough method and interviews with 16 users, the study illuminates how NCM transforms daily music listening from a largely private experience to a networked affective practice, enabling personal storytelling and emotional encounters to foster a community of feelings. This process of platformization introduces structural tensions that complicate NCM's operation, as the platform simultaneously monetizes users’ affective traces and negotiates the governance of negative sentiments across state ideological imperatives, commercial interests, and proactive community management. This research contributes to platform studies by foregrounding the affective dimensions of platformization within the Chinese context.