Wired to share

Call me a cheapskate but I’ve always been keen to borrow wherever possible when I can avoid spending money on something – whether it’s a DVD or a wheelbarrow. I am blessed with a father and a brother who love buying new DVDs, and to have a generous neighbour whose shed puts Bunnings to shame. It has always seemed a bit silly to me that every guy wants to have a very similar set of tools and appliances sitting inside our suburban sheds unused.

I have become very optimistic and even excited about the way that the interweb has connected us, changed the way we think, and gives us opportunities to communicate and share easily. A friend posted on Facebook last weekend asking if anyone had bunk beds that they didn’t need. Within a few hours a thread of conversation appeared with promises of beds and even mattresses thrown in! We also benefited as we got to share a bed that no-one in even my extended family has a use for right now and was taking up space in my laundry.

I thought later how this could have worked twenty years ago. A request for spare furniture could have been passed around to family and a few friends as you see them over a month. If you’re fortunate someone might know someone who has something to spare. Through social networking it is possible to quite passively share a simple request that is whispered among hundreds of people.

I have been interested to get a small insight through some good friends about the way that the IT community itself has an incredible culture of sharing. Many who spend hours and years on a piece of code or software are very happy to then share it for nothing with anyone in the world. Instead of wanting control over their intellectual capital they are happy for the influence and to know that they have contributed to something greater. I have also noticed how the networks that most of us use socially are used seamlessly in their world of work to share ideas, post opinions, ask questions and receive answers in real time.

I ‘borrowed’ the title of this blog from a talk given by Rachel Botsman for TEDxSydney. Take 15 minutes to watch this video if you can, the link is below. Botsman uses many stories and examples to show how we are becoming what she calls ‘collaborative consumers’. Made possible by the internet, we are starting to use things according to their need and not simply be driven to own everything we might need at some time. A great stat she shares is that the average home power drill will be used for less than 13 minutes in its lifetime! She questions why we think we needed a drill when all we really needed was a hole. Botsman also speaks about the fascinating ‘trust mechanics’ that are being created between strangers across the world (exciting and hopeful stuff about the heart!).

What is something that you have received by this kind of sharing?

http://www.ted.com/talks/rachel_botsman_the_case_for_collaborative_consumption.html