QotW4: Online Gift Economies

A gift economy is known as sharing economy or also gift culture. So then what exactly is a gift economy? A gift economy is an economic system in which the prevalent mode of exchange is for goods and services to be given without explicit agreement upon a quid pro quo (the Latin term for the concept of “a favor for a favor”). Typically, this occurs in a cultural context where there is an expectation either of reciprocation—in the form of goods or services of comparable value, or of political support, general loyalty, honor to the giver, etc.—or of the gift being passed on in some other manner. This can be considered a form of reciprocal altruism. In other cases, gifting is done without implicit expectation of reciprocation (”Gift Economy”, 2007).

In the real world, I am in the gift economy of blood donation. Blood donations give no significant explicit reciprocation. People donate blood on their own will, expecting nothing in return. In the visual world, I consider Taekwondo Yahoo! Groups and NTR 108 (nutrition course offered in SIM/UB) discussion board gift economies.

Internet is filled with junk and jerks. Online interaction is relatively anonymous, there is no central authority and is difficult to impose monetary or physical sanctions on someone. However, the Internet facilitates collaboration. People can meet, plan, and discuss issues without regard to physical location or time. It is easy and very cheap to distribute information across the Internet (“The economies of online cooperation,” 1999). Information is a public good in the strict economic sense, and is also put into its own production process (“Political economy of commons,” 2003). On the Net, the same piece of information could exist both as a commodity and a gift (“The high-tech gift economy,” 2005).

Property is a cluster of background rules that determine what resources each of us has when we come into relationships with others (“Political economy of commons,” 2003). Gift is defined as the obligatory transfer of inalienable objects or services between related and mutually obligated transactors. In gift-giving, people pass on free advice where the recipient is often unknown and the giver may never encounter the recipient again (“The economies of online cooperation,” 1999). Within the scientific community, the gift economy has long been the primary method of socializing labor (“The high-tech gift economy,” 2005).

Motivations for contributing include anticipated reciprocity, one’s reputation, sense of efficacy, need, and the attachment one have to the group. Successful online community carries the features of ongoing interaction, identity persistence, knowledge of previous interactions, visible contributions and recognition, and well-defined and defended group boundaries (“The economies of online cooperation,” 1999).

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Last semester, I was enrolled in NTR 108 (nutrition) course. It was an online course where a discussion board was set up in the forum. It was a channel for students to ask and answer questions posted. We, as students, share information that we found, without expecting anything in return, meaning we pass on free advice. Whenever we encounter problems in certain topics, we can post a question in the discussion board and those who have the knowledge could answer us by sending back a reply. Lecturers also visit the discussion board to supervise us and make sure the information we were sharing was correct. This is to me a gift economy because we actually communicate with the UB students who we did not meet before through the discussion board. We help each other by providing relevant information and clearing each other’s doubts. This sharing of information between people we know and “strangers”, does make learning more fun and comprehensive. Also, students work would be recognized and this motivates us to contribute and share what we can offer. This semester, I am also enrolled in NTR 109/110 course. There is still discussion board in the home page and so I consider myself to be still in this gift economy.

In conclusion, digital networks offer us the opportunity to enhance our productivity and growth while simultaneously improving our democracy and increasing individual freedom (“Political economy of commons,” 2003). Personally, I feel that online gift economy is beneficial as we are helping each other without any expectation of reciprocation. This can cultivate good social values and also mould us into un-selfish individuals.

References:

Barbrook, R. (2005). The Hi-Tech Gift Economy. First Monday. Retrieved February 5, 2007 from http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue3_12/barbrook/

Bentler, Y. (2003). The Political Economy of Commons. The European Journal for the Informatics Professional, Vol. IV, No. 3. Retrieved 5 February from http://www.upgrade-cepis.org

Kollock, P. (1999). 'The Economies of Online Cooperation: Gifts and Public Goods in Cyberspace". Retrieved February 5, 2007, from http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/kollock/papers/economies.html


Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia. (2007, February 4). Gift economies. Retrieved February 8, 2007, from http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gift_economy