本研究採用M. Burawoy的理論探討中國大陸網路文學平台運作過程中，網路作家為何甘願投入大量勞動，以及維繫網路文學平台穩定延續存在的機制。
本研究自2019年2月至4月間，採用面訪與微信語音等方式進行深度訪談，本研究選取7位從業十年以上的受訪者，其中3位網路文學平台經營者；2位為網路作家、1位IP開發者；1位從事網路文學相關研究的學者。
本研究發現，網路文學平台設計一套運作規則與獎勵制度，讓作家們在趕工遊戲中甘願持續生產。在流量平台的循環規則下，網路文學平台走向大者恒大的現象，網路文學場域規則的話語權也被大型平台壟斷。平台運營者期望將作品篩選的標準從流量數據轉變為編輯者本身的經驗。但是隨著編輯對作家培訓和關注增加，在創作過程中干預增加，作家的創作的自主性降低。
 

Technology and Internet literature platform investment have changed the ecology of the Internet literature field since developing a close connection with the Chinese audiovisual industry. The large Chinese audiovisual companies take over Internet literature platforms to incorporate them into their business for the industrial IP companies that are eager to obtain new novels. Henceforth, writing in a virtual space differs considerably from personal creation or sentiment expression; it is led by business models and cashability.
As the upstream of the large supply chain of the audiovisual content production industry, Internet literature platforms play a crucial role in the industrial development of content production. This research proposal claims that Internet writers, instead of being forced to work for a low-pay job, consciously consent to the work conditions offered by platforms.
This study adopts M. Burawoy’s analytical framework of manufacturing consent to discover the digital cultural labor process and operational mechanism in Internet literature platforms in China, and discover why thousands of Internet writers are willing to consistently produce novels for the platforms.