The practice of giving in online communities is not uncommon and is the fundamental basis upon which some communities have been established.
An individuals standing in a community is ultimately determined by what they bring to it.
The circulation and exchange of gifts within the community ultimately leads to the strengthening of relationships and an increase in the connections formed.
This is what is commonly referred to as the gift economy.
There are many online communities in which a modern notion of the gift economy is practised.
Gumtree is one of my faves. It's free to post ads on the site.There are gumtrees in major cities worldwide, so you can find goods and services in your area. It features ads from property for sale to people offering carpools. I managed to find a brand new shelf from Ikea on the freebie part of the site. All I had to do was pick it up from the advertiser's home address.
Many webpages now feature a link that enables the reader to add it to a selection of social bookmarking websites. You can find what's new and interesting on the net and it's an ideal place to get another perspective on a research topic without trawling the internet for ages.Reddit, del.icio.us, and digg it are sites that hosts your internet favourites and those belonging to others, and lets you access them from a computer with internet anywhere. One of the benefits is that you don't have to be tied to your home network in order to view your bookmarks.
You can then store and share your favourites with people you know or members of the community. It is easy to find what you're looking for or categorise your bookmarks as you can make tags, one word descriptors or keywords.
The creative commons is a unique non profit organisation founded in 2001 that offers free copyright licenses. They are designed for musicians, film makers, photographers even blog writers and other creative disciplines that don't want to get their work ripped off. The artist retains copyright but licenses their work as free for certain uses. This means their work can be seen or heard and shared by people online. For example a song could be copied, distributed or sampled as the long as the artist received credit.
Creative Commons provides free tools that let authors, scientists, artists, and educators easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry. You can use CC to change your copyright terms from "All Rights Reserved" to "Some Rights Reserved." http://creativecommons.org/
After perusing the online broadsheets as I do on a daily basis I found two articles which explored themes relevant to new media technologies.
The first is from the Guardian's technology section and provides an insight into how media law is in direct conflict with the ideals of the freedoms, particularly freedom of speech, that can be exercised in cyberspace. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/oct/22/news.blogging
Fans of football club Sheffield Wednesday expressed their dissatisfaction about the clubs boardroom members in what they thought were anonymous internet postings on owlstalk.co.uk The owner of the website was served with a court order that forced him to reveal the identity of fans who had made serious allegations about the club owners.
Libel cases are no longer unique to traditional media forms such as print but are finding their way into new media platforms. This case highlights the fact that there is no anonymity in cyberspace. Yes, we can create new identities for ourselves online however we are consistently monitored and no-one is autonomous or safe from the legal might of corporations seeking to silence or suppress the individual.
The second article is from the Times business section and explores the benefits of social networking sites, wikis and blogs maintained by employees and discusses why employers should realise the opportunities that can come from encouraging rather than discouraging their use. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/corporate_law/article2616593.ece
For some employers communication via these forums is seen as a means of strengthening ties with clients and colleagues. For others and understandably so it is potentially hazardous for the reputation of the organisation. Insider secrets being exposed to an otherwise unaware public could lead to legal repercussions
A few months ago my employer sent out an area e-mail warning us that posting information about the company on social networking sites however innocent it could be deemed, was in fact a breach of contract and anyone found doing so would face a disciplinary and possible dismissal. This is from a company who was fined £250,000 by the FSA for mis-selling insurance products to customers through its telesales department and was most recently the subject of a Watchdog report, again coming under fire for misinforming customers about an insurance product for the IPhone. You can see why they're anxious.
We discussed and viewed the phenomenon that is Second Life. This provoked heated discussion concerning the debates around online deception and who should be afforded access to these services.It was said by someone in the class that people who are mentally unstable or vulnerable could potentially misuse the site. Don't people on IM, Facebook or MySpace create alternate identities for themselves or lie about their attributes and achievements? I think Second Life is still serves a relatively niche community and does not promote itself in the same manner as the aforementioned online communities do, therefore it is understandable to see why comments like this were made.
The groups presented their ideas to Nigel. We went last just to be on the safe side.
Neng enlightened us about a site called Queeruption.org, a virtual community used for global activism. There is no central governing body or leadership. Communication is conducted solely online to organise annual worldwide campaigns and rallies.
We will use examples of global and local communities in cyberspace and make a comparison between the perceived aims of each and the character of members of the community.
His reaction certainly provided us with a degree of reassurance that we didn't receive last week. I certainly feel more confident about going forward with the project now.
