Gift Economies for Christmas

What is the difference between stopping to help someone on the side of the road and editing an incorrect article on Wikipedia? Other than the physical sense of the action at hand, nothing. In both cases you are offering your service without the expectation of compensation. Such is the foundation of modern gift economies. While I am not the brilliant brain child behind Linux or Wikipedia, I have found myself contemplating the utility of an economy where no one profits? In today’s society it would seem as if a “gift economy” would be unsuccessful, but on the contrary; in congruence with the rise of web 2.0, more and more people are sharing information, goods, and services, building a new internet as never seen before. Kollock (1999) refers to a gift economy as “improving the technology of social relations.” I will simply define social relations as any interaction between individuals of similar or analogous communities. In a gift economy goods and services are provided without the expectation of receiving something in return (Kollock, 1999). A gift economy cannot solely survive in a capitalistic economy, but needs a host, and it is in an online community that a gift economy finds it niche (Kollock, 1999).

As ironic as it may seem, it did not occur to me until after I began writing this week’s blog entry that blogging is actually taking part in a gift economy. I can say this with confidence because I am offering my thoughts, opinions, and intellectual prowess for nothing in return. Just like editing a wiki, posting a blog is offering your insight and knowledge to the world, the effects of which have the possibility of reaching a widespread audience. As a blogger I expect no monetary compensation; however academic praise may be appreciated when deserved. Barbook (1998) says in his article that “the New Economy of cyberspace is an advanced form of social democracy.” When you think about it, the US economy no longer relies on manufacturing, but rather the transfer of proprietary information. Blogging is at its core, a public good that has taken its form in the shape of online interaction. Blogs are only smaller sub units of larger online communities; communities which make information available to the group as a whole, while still preserving it for latter use by a subsequent viewing audience (Kollock, 1999). In addition to their social utility, blogs in general do not require group specialization. However I would like to note than unlike a Capitalistic economy, where the self takes precedent, in a gift economy, what matters most is the welfare of the group. Considering blogs once again, everything that is written in a blog has the potential to be read by billions of other people. Therefore those individuals who write blogs not only have a responsibility to themselves, but the blogosphere. Similarly Kollock (1999) also notes that motivation to the group is spurred by both reputation and efficacy. That recognition no loner resides in the eye of the beholder, but rather the group.

But does the open source revolution really stand a chance at becoming a dominant economy of scale? According to Perens (1999) the basis of Open Source relies on “the right to make copies of the program, and distribute those copies, the right to have access to the software's source code . . . [and] the right to make improvements to the program.” All of which are already available through proper licensing channels. The notion of free software revolutionizes internet technology as we know it. Gift economies are quickly gaining popularity stemming from rapid development and ease of personalization (Perens, 1999). Blogs for example are only a piece of the pie, but constitute a rather large piece of it. Not only do blogs change the way we gather information, but also how we communicate and disseminate our own thoughts and opinions. In a society where so few believe they have a voice, blogs serve as a platform where individuals can stick it to the man . . . no strings attached.

References

Barbrook, R. (1998). The Hi-Tech Gift Economy. Retrieved February 8, 2007 from
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue3_12/barbrook/

Kollock, P. (1999). The Economies of Online Cooperation: Gifts and Public Goods in Cyberspace. Retrieved February 8, 2007 from http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/kollock/papers/economies.htm

Perens, B. (1999). Open Sources: Voices from the Open Source Revolution. Retrieved February 8, 2007 from http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/perens.html
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