QotW4: Gift economies
It is Better To Give Than To Receive
This very old idea is beginning to again draw the attention to us. Afterall,humans are an interdependent class of life. All humans need help unless they wish to live at the level of animal subsistence. Interdependence means some times I depend on others and sometimes others depend on me.This is the reason why there is a great amount of sharing and cooperation that does occur in online communities.
Rheingold (1993) has described interaction in one online community (the WELL) as consisting of a gift economy, in which help and information is offered without the expectation of any direct, immediate quid-pro-quo. Even in more anonymous settings, such as Usenet discussion groups, there is a surprising amount of free help and information given out, often to complete strangers whom one may never meet again.
In a gift economy, benefits come from improving the “technology of social relations” by, for example, increasing the range and diversity of one's social network. (Bell, 1991)
Possible motivation for this kind of sharing and cooperation that relax the assumption of egoism and that individuals do care to some degree about the outcomes of others are:
One possibility is that a person is motivated to contribute valuable information to the group in the expectation that one will receive useful help and information in return; that is, the motivation is an anticipated reciprocity. (Kollock,1993)
A second possible motivation is the effect of contributions on one's reputation. High quality information, impressive technical details in one's answers, a willingness to help others, and elegant writing can all work to increase one's prestige in the community. (Rheingold, 1993)
An example of a gift economy that I am familiar with is blogging.
Blogs, which was once the preserve of a small minority is now a mass phenomenon. Personally, i feel that blogs has become an excellent channel for users to share, learn, understand, take charge and to change our world. In this modern society,gaining knowledge about certain issues is no longer only dependent on the newspapers, television news or radio. People now place more attention to reading others blogs to serve their needs. Let us just take our academic blogs for an example. We are indeed sharing our knowledge to others who visit out blogs. In return, we seek to others blogs to obtain extra information for our own good.
Blogs is considered an excellent example of a gift economy because not only it is free, it makes us discover many new things that others have share.Bloggers write their views, share experiences and post interesting pictures online.I have a few bloggers under my favourite list. One loves exploring new eateries and she frequently updates on any new eateries she has been too. Another blogger who is also a local celebrity recently set up a blog just to promote good quality shoes online for sale. I also like this particular blogger who is a frequent traveller who writes on her interesting trips and post amazing holidays pictures.
To conclude, blogs is definitely one example of a gift economy as those who share whatever views, ideas or experiences do not expect immediate returns or comments from their readers. They will be more than happy to know that their blogs have a high hit list! May gift economies like blogs continues to bloom!
Kollock, P. (1999). The Economies of Online Cooperation:
Gifts and Public Goods in Cyberspace. Retrieved February 7, 2007, from http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/kollock/papers/economies.
Barbrook, R. (2005). The High Tech Gift Economy.Retrieved February 7, 2007, from http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue3_12/barbrook/
Polland, D. (April, 2005).The Gift Economy. Retrievev February 8, 2007, from http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/2005/04/17.html
Pinchot, G. (Summer, 1995). The Gift Economy. Retrieved February 8, 2007, from http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC41/PinchotG.htm
Raymond, E.S. (October 17, 2003). The Gift Economy. Retrieved February 8, 2007, from http://futurepositive.synearth.net/stories/storyReader$223
It is Better To Give Than To Receive
This very old idea is beginning to again draw the attention to us. Afterall,humans are an interdependent class of life. All humans need help unless they wish to live at the level of animal subsistence. Interdependence means some times I depend on others and sometimes others depend on me.This is the reason why there is a great amount of sharing and cooperation that does occur in online communities.
Rheingold (1993) has described interaction in one online community (the WELL) as consisting of a gift economy, in which help and information is offered without the expectation of any direct, immediate quid-pro-quo. Even in more anonymous settings, such as Usenet discussion groups, there is a surprising amount of free help and information given out, often to complete strangers whom one may never meet again.
In a gift economy, benefits come from improving the “technology of social relations” by, for example, increasing the range and diversity of one's social network. (Bell, 1991)
Possible motivation for this kind of sharing and cooperation that relax the assumption of egoism and that individuals do care to some degree about the outcomes of others are:
One possibility is that a person is motivated to contribute valuable information to the group in the expectation that one will receive useful help and information in return; that is, the motivation is an anticipated reciprocity. (Kollock,1993)
A second possible motivation is the effect of contributions on one's reputation. High quality information, impressive technical details in one's answers, a willingness to help others, and elegant writing can all work to increase one's prestige in the community. (Rheingold, 1993)
An example of a gift economy that I am familiar with is blogging.
Blogs, which was once the preserve of a small minority is now a mass phenomenon. Personally, i feel that blogs has become an excellent channel for users to share, learn, understand, take charge and to change our world. In this modern society,gaining knowledge about certain issues is no longer only dependent on the newspapers, television news or radio. People now place more attention to reading others blogs to serve their needs. Let us just take our academic blogs for an example. We are indeed sharing our knowledge to others who visit out blogs. In return, we seek to others blogs to obtain extra information for our own good.
Blogs is considered an excellent example of a gift economy because not only it is free, it makes us discover many new things that others have share.Bloggers write their views, share experiences and post interesting pictures online.I have a few bloggers under my favourite list. One loves exploring new eateries and she frequently updates on any new eateries she has been too. Another blogger who is also a local celebrity recently set up a blog just to promote good quality shoes online for sale. I also like this particular blogger who is a frequent traveller who writes on her interesting trips and post amazing holidays pictures.
To conclude, blogs is definitely one example of a gift economy as those who share whatever views, ideas or experiences do not expect immediate returns or comments from their readers. They will be more than happy to know that their blogs have a high hit list! May gift economies like blogs continues to bloom!
Kollock, P. (1999). The Economies of Online Cooperation:
Gifts and Public Goods in Cyberspace. Retrieved February 7, 2007, from http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/kollock/papers/economies.
Barbrook, R. (2005). The High Tech Gift Economy.Retrieved February 7, 2007, from http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue3_12/barbrook/
Polland, D. (April, 2005).The Gift Economy. Retrievev February 8, 2007, from http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/2005/04/17.html
Pinchot, G. (Summer, 1995). The Gift Economy. Retrieved February 8, 2007, from http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC41/PinchotG.htm
Raymond, E.S. (October 17, 2003). The Gift Economy. Retrieved February 8, 2007, from http://futurepositive.synearth.net/stories/storyReader$223
posted by Ainil @ 1:30 PM
1 Comments:
At 12:15 AM,
Kevin said…
Yes, blogs are a good form of gift economy. Full grades :)
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