Gifts

The internet today is a mix of the "free and fee," though it still remains in part of a gift economy. Certain sites and information are put on the internet and don't expect payment or anything else in return. Which demonstrates a gift economy; 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"). Being in a gift economy just shows that you are not all about receiving something in return but about giving a gift because you feel good about it. Public good can also relate to a gift economy. Public goods are goods that anyone might benefit from, regardless of whether they have helped contribute to their production. An example can be watching the 2007 ball drop in Times Square. One person can see this the same way everyone else can. This is the same as a gift economy because the government pays money to have the ball drop every year. They don't expect anything in return, but for everyone not just one person to come out, have fun and enjoy the festivities. Another example can be our U.S. Army. The army goes to war for us, and protect our country from terrorist every single day and they don't expect anything in return from us, but respect. There is nothing wrong with giving something and not getting anything in return. The more you give or help someone than later on in life someone may help you or give you a gift.

Back to the internet. There are so many sites that doesn't have a fee and gives you so much information. An examples has to be the very known Myspace. Myspace is totally free, and it allows you to reconnect with old friends, chat and meet new people, listen to music for free, and etc. Another site is NFL.com. You can find out all the scores for football games, see game highlights, find out new information about athletes or team organizations and its all free. The same thing goes for Movies.com. It tells you information about the movie you are interested in, it shows you previews of the movie, and it gives it a rating from A-F. Basically letting you know if it is worth paying for or not. Internet is definitely a gift economy.
















The economy that i can place myself into has to be the economy of family. My family and I are always giving gifts and buying things for one another and not expecting anything in return. I just bought my older sister the new ipod speakers two weeks ago. I didn't buy her the speakers so i could get something in return. I bought it because i knew she wanted it and it would make her happy. Another example is my mom putting money in my bank account so i could buy groceries, she doesn't expect me to pay her the money back, she just knows that i can use it and wants to help out. In my opinion a gift doesn't even have to be something physical, it can even be emotional. I call my grandmother every other day just because that's what she wants and it makes her happy to know that I am ok. I do this to make her happy, not to get anything in return.






















I am not only in the economy of my family, but I am also in the economy of good deeds. Nothing is better than helping another person out. If i see an older woman struggling with her bags or groceries, I stop whatever it is I'm doing and i go help them out. I don't expect them to pay me for helping them, even if they try to give me money i say no thank you. I'm just happy to lend a helping hand. Another example is homeless people. Growing up in New York City, you see homeless people everywhere. There is not a day that i ride the train and i don't see a homeless person sleeping or asking for change and food. Even if it's my last dollar in my pocket, I would give it to the homeless person. Definitely not because i expect something in return, but because i know they need it more than I do. These examples can relate to the Usenet discussion groups, which is defined as a surprising amount of free help and information given out, often to complete strangers whom one may never meet again. Helping someone with directions, I know 99% of the time I wont meet that person again, but i still help them because they need it. But this occurs all the time. I see people helping one another almost everyday. And i Will continue to help people because its just the right thing to do, and hopefully when I am old and need help with groceries, some young woman or man help be just like I've helped others.

Gift economy, the economy of family, and the economy of good deeds, can all be put in the same category. The obligatory transfer, of inalienable objects or services, between related and mutually obligated transactors. Basically in normal people terms, it means giving someone you know or don't know a gift or a helping hand with no expectations of getting anything in return. The internet continues to expand its gift economy, and it is beneficial to every internet surfer.


References-

Kollock, P. 1999,"The economies of Online Cooperation: Gifts and Public Goods in Cyberspace
Smith and Petter Kollick, communities in cyberspace, 8 Feburary 2007, from
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/kollock/papers/economies.htm

Kylie J. Veale, Internet gift economy, 12 december 2003
First Monday, volume 8, number 12, 09 Feburary 2007, from
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_12/veale/index.html

Gift economy, from Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia, 09 feburary 2007, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/gift_economy