QotW4: Gift Economy

At this day and age, where participants of the rat race have adopted a ‘survival of the fittest’ mentality, the idea of a community in which a person goes out of his or her way to lend a helping hand, for the simple reason that it might be offered back when in need, may be a little hard to digest. But all we have to do is to look into cyberspace and realize that there is hope and opportunity to repent our selfish ways.

A gift economy exist when help and information is offered without the expectation of any direct, immediate quid-pro-quo (Kollock, n.d.). Because a gift economy usually occurs over the Internet, the benefits of it come from improving the ‘technology of social relations’ (Kollock, n.d.). In this essay, we will explore an example of a gift economy and why it is considered one.

“This music is the glue of the World - it holds it all together. Without this, life would be meaningless.” – Empire Records.

Ask any musician in Singapore where is the best place to find a community of local musicians, chances are, S.O.F.T., www.soft.com.sg, will be the general reply. S.O.F.T. is an online community dedicated to the local music industry. It is a platform where music lovers, musician, music teachers, instrument dealers and event organizers come together to share knowledge on various subjects and spread their information to fellow users.

One example of how a gift economy is evident here is that S.O.F.T. has the ability to reduce the cost of contributing to the production of a public good in numerous ways (Kollock, n.d.). Since information is considered a public good (Benklar, 2003), the ability to share information and help via forums helps reduce cost considerably as compared to seeking help from a professional. For example, a user, AEnimic, posted a question on the forum requesting help on how to compose a harmonized solo. Lessons from a professional guitar instructor will cost easily over a hundred dollars a month. With the use of S.O.F.T., one can receive help without having to pay for it. Other users offer their two-cents worth through the forum, thus, offering help and information. By placing the information on the Internet, it does not only benefit the person who asked the question, but also other users or readers who happen to have the same problem.

‘Jamming’ is a term where musicians gather and play their instruments without extensive preparation and predefined arrangements (‘Jamming’, 2007). It used to require musicians to be at one place physically. But users of S.O.F.T. have come up with an ingenious idea of ‘jamming’ through the forums. One will upload a tune, which is available for downloading, and users who are interested in contributing to the forum, can download the tune, record a solo to that tune, upload it and allow other users to critique.

Why do I even bother?

You might wonder what motivates people to contribute. One reason could be that by offering help to a fellow musician, one can hope for reciprocity. Also, if each person contributes freely, the S.O.F.T. community will have ‘access to information and advice that no single person can match’. This might encourage other users to contribute and in turn, add on to one of the features that a successful online community requires: an ongoing interaction (Kollock, n.d.).

Reviews of instruments can also be found on the website. Users can give a review of a particular instrument for other users to learn more of. For other users to take the review seriously, a reputation of one who gives high quality information must be obtained. Increase in the number of contributions might add to the reputation of a user as more people might recognize the person’s contribution. Identity persistence is needed in order for this to be possible (Kollock, n.d.). Making sure contributions are visible and that contributors are recognized for the efforts is another structural feature that might be advantageous in building up a good reputation.

Conclusion

S.O.F.T. is not only a common, but it is also a public good. Consumption of the information found on www.soft.com.sg by one individual does not reduce the amount of information, which is available for the consumption of others (‘Public good’, 2007). One can agree that with the gift economy so evident on websites today, the glue is only getting stronger.

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Reference:

‘The Economies of Online Cooperation: Gifts and Public Goods in Cyberspace’ n.d.
Retrieved on 07/02/07
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/kollock/papers/economies.htm

‘The Political Economy of Commons’, 2003.
Retrived on 07/02/07
http://www.upgrade-cepis.org/issues/2003/3/up4-3Benkler.pdf

Jamming
Retrieved on 08/02/07
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jam_session

Public good
Retrieved on 08/02/07
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_good