Work organisation, labour & globalisation Volume 15, Number 1, 2021 107 Smart working is not so smart Always-on lives and the dark side of platformisation Elisabetta Risi and Riccardo Pronzato Elizabeth Risi is a Research Fellow in the Department of Communication, Arts and Media ‘Giampaolo Fabris’ at IULM University, Milan, Italy. Riccardo Pronzato is a PhD student in the Department of Communication, Arts and Media ‘Giampaolo Fabris’ at IULM University, Milan, Italy. ABSTRACT This article investigates the lived experiences of remote workers during the Italian lockdown, and the role of digital platforms in their working and everyday life activities, as well as the consequences of home confnement measures on personal and working conditions. Drawing on 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews, the paper’s fndings suggest that, following a massive extension of transmedia work, remote workers experienced a ‘fractured’ and ‘always-on’ life. During the lockdown, the ever more pervasive role of digital media favoured the convergence of different spaces and times into the home, the erosion of the distinction between private and professional life and the exacerbation of previous social inequalities, especially inequalities in relation to gender and digital access. In this scenario, platform and surveillance capitalist logics were further reinforced, while ‘presence bleed’ in the experiences of workers increased. KEY WORDS Digital platforms, remote work, digital labour, gender inequalities, work–family confict, social distancing, lockdown, COVID 19, Italy Introduction In the last two decades, the exponential growth of online platforms has been re-shaping all spheres of everyday life (Bucher, 2018), the labour market and working conditions (Huws, 2016; Casilli & Posada, 2019), as well as the spatial organisation of cities (Huws, 2014). From training to communication, from production to services and logistics, up to social relations (Gillespie, 2015; Bucher, 2018), all realms of social life have been