Beyond the well-known giants like Uber Eats and DoorDash, there are hundreds of independent food delivery platforms in the United States. However, little is known about the sociotechnical landscape of these ``indie'' platforms. In this paper, we analyzed these platforms to understand why they were created, how they operate, and what technologies they use. We collected data on 495 indie platforms and detailed survey responses from 29 platforms. We found that personalized, timely service is a central value of indie platforms, as is a sense of responsibility to the local community they serve. Indie platforms are motivated to provide fair rates for restaurants and couriers. These alternative business practices differentiate them from mainstream platforms. Though indie platforms have plans to expand, a lack of customizability in off-the-shelf software prevents independent platforms from personalizing services for their local communities. We show that these platforms are a widespread and longstanding fixture of the food delivery market. We illustrate the diversity of motivations and values to explain why a one-size-fits-all support is insufficient, and we discuss the siloing of technology that inhibits platforms' growth. Through these insights, we aim to promote future HCI research into the potential development of public-interest technologies for local food delivery.

翻译：除了Uber Eats和DoorDash等知名巨头外，美国还有数百个独立外卖平台。然而，这些"独立"平台的社会技术格局尚不为人所知。本文通过对这些平台的分析，探究其创建动因、运营模式及技术应用。我们收集了495个独立平台的数据，以及29个平台的详细调查反馈。研究发现，个性化及时效性服务是独立平台的核心价值，同时它们也高度关注服务本地社区的责任感。独立平台致力于为餐厅和配送员提供公平费率，这些另类商业模式使其区别于主流平台。尽管独立平台有扩张计划，但现成软件缺乏可定制性，阻碍了其为本地社区提供个性化服务的能力。研究表明，这些平台已成为外卖市场中广泛存在且长期存在的固定组成部分。我们通过展现其动机与价值的多样性，说明一刀切的扶持方案为何不足，并探讨了制约平台发展的技术孤岛现象。基于这些洞察，我们旨在推动人机交互领域未来对本地外卖领域公共利益技术潜在发展的研究。