Although more and more research is being done on digital authorship, little is known about its relationship with search engines and social media platforms. This is surprising, given that these technologies are major drivers of digital media ecosystems. To address this research gap, this essay pursues a media sociological analysis in two steps. First, it reviews key definitions, empirical properties, and theoretical conceptions of authorship. The aim is to identify overarching problems and explanatory patterns. It is argued that authorial agency, authority, and empirical manifestation constitute such overarching elements that can be used to form a flexible analytical lens. Second, to demonstrate its explanatory power, this essay applies the authorship lens to analyze social media platforms and search engines. It argues that authorship patterns are not only at work but have been built into the algorithms of Google and Facebook.
