Net Economies

When attempting to think of an economy that I actively participate online with, other than a commodity driven economy with monetary gain, the best I could think of are my class discussion boards.

An open source software web site; a pro gift economy web site states that, "gifts that an individual might offer in large or even unlimited amounts to a community, into the gift economy, we need to look beyond traditional units of account like hours and dollars, and cultivate the greater "forest" in which individuals who give unlimited or immense quantities of their particular gifts and services would be compensated not with exact amounts of money but with sufficient reciprocal gifts from other community members"(www.transactions.net).

With this definition that is on a more grandiose scale than my example, but never the less the same principal. The gift economy that I participate in; discussion boards, follows suit as a gift economy by following the principal of reciprocation. For example when preparing for the exam and if you miss notes or need a little help with an assignment you can shout out at your class and hope that someone out of kindness will respond. Often people do respond too, but sometimes they expect you to reciprocate the favor.

Kollack discusses gift economies in a group setting, "While a balanced reciprocacy with a particular individual may not be possible, there is a sense that the balance might occur within the group as a whole" (Kollack, 2).

First of all in this type of setting you may or may not experience an exchange with one individual. As said before, a person may ask for something in return, yet there is no explicit obligation to repay. On the other hand if someone simply helps you out they may get information and another juncture from another member of the class. The ultimate hope is that when you do help someone else they will either be willing to help you or contribute to others. In the most perfect of conditions everyone would contribute to make the ultimately best source of information. That is also an idea that helps support the credibility of Wikipedia, which could fall under the category of a public good and a gift economy.

Kollack describes the idea that reciprocacy can be of a service or idea, but this author still believes that being able to quantify the value of the "gift" makes it worthwhile.
"What happens if there is no tangible return or rewards are not quantifiable? I suggest that the gift economy weakens and content providers seek more than just intangible rewards — reciprocity in the form of tangible compensation" (Synergic Earth News,Veale,1).

I agree with this to a sense as well, however personal value or appreciation for information or an virtual good may simply out weigh the costs of being able to quantify its worth. A discussion board still could be quantifiable as monetary and a gain in grades. Here is my chain of thought:
You miss a class
You miss notes
You have quiz that you need full credit to pass the class
You get that information from a friendly classmate online
You pass the quiz
You pass the class
You don't waste your tuition, time invested or supply costs for the class.

Even using Veale's principal for a gift economy the discussion board still hold up, in fact if used properly its value can be immeasurable when it comes to learning more. You will have that forever, however as said before there are few situations where this Utopian idea of free exchange works to it's fullest potential for all of the users in an equal proportion.