In Chapter 2, we argue that the platformization of our social order – the process by which platforms appropriate the infrastructure of our social life – is fueled by three “structural trends.” First, Network Scaling: digital platforms rely on network effects that subsume human activities, imposing opportunity costs on those opting out. Second, Context Collapse: digital platforms appropriate communicative infrastructure at scale, removing the boundaries of membership and information on which intermediary associations depend. Third, Managerial Control: platform managers exercise the competencies that once justified the authority of independent, self-fashioning associations. By itself, none of these “structural trends” need imperil collective action. Our challenge comes from the way in which these structural trends interact with each other, a relationship that we attempt to untangle. We argue that, considered as one, the three structural trends form a self-reinforcing cycle: We let platforms subsume our activities, which undermines our ability to self-organize, which, in turn, makes us outsource more and more activities to digital platforms.