Hybrid economies

1. Hybrid economies Lessig, L. 2008. Remix: making art and commerce thrive in the hybrid economy. Bloomsbury: London.

2. Online Economies • Commercial economy: • Money at their core. • Products and services have economic value. • Amazon.com Sharing economy: • Does not seek to create a profit. • Relies on relationships within a community. • Wikipedia.com The Hybrid economy • Builds on the commercial and sharing economy. • As Lessig says it is either a commercial entity that aims to take value from a sharing economy or • It is a sharing economy that builds a commercial entity so that it is able to support its purpose.

3. THE HYBRID ECONOMY • Free software • Free Software is the hybrid idea. • Sharing open-source software instead of keeping codes private as commercial companies do. • Engineers can volunteer to build on software or modify it. • Redhat – provides open source software information to enterprise communities. Other types of hybrids: • Community spaces • Collaboration spaces • Communities

4. Community Spaces • From the beginning the internet has created space for interaction and sharing. • Sharing community spaces have stayed clear of commercial entities for reasons but hybrids have been able to monetize their sites without loosing users. Dogster • Built by dog lovers – contains photos, forums, classifieds, diaries, treats and more. • Supports itself through advertisement. • The site leverages community of conversation around pets (sharing) and produces a revenue (commercial entity).

6. Craigslist • Launched in 1995 by Craig Newmark. • Enabled people to post advertisements for free. • In 2006 it had reached more than 400 cities around the world. • 99% of the sites content is free. • Ads for jobs in 11 cities and apartments in New York are not advertised for free. • Flagging. • Allows for the community to judge what content is wanted. • If people are controlling the site this gives them trust and they feel as if this is a real community. • After hurricane Katrina there was an influx of advertisements.

8. Youtube • One of the fastest growing websites. • Again users have the control. • Very nature of user-generated content. • Community of sharing, share to Facebook, share to blogs and many other sites. This is the value • Advertising brings in revenue. • Because this is a Sharing economy that lends leverage from a commercial entity users will get frustrated if there are too many adverts. There needs to be a suitable balance.

10. Collaborative Spaces • Different from community spaces in that people participating in this space feel they are there to build something together. • Visible community with a clear focus of work. Yahoo Answers! • Answer and question site launched by Yahoo! • As of April 2008 – 35, 411, 866 questions and 35, 411, 851 answers. • Millions of volunteers answering other peoples questions • Yahoo introduced the point system as an incentive. • Although some questions and answers are quite trivial there are many questions and answers that prove to be helpful.

12. Wikia • Jimmy Wales founder of Wikipedia produced a site called Wikia. • Platform for developing and hosting community based wikis. • Wikis can be anything that does not fall into the realm of encyclopaedia. • Added advertising to the site which brings in revenue. • Groups can share information about anything. – Wikis about football clubs or different television shows. • Users bring in and build on it together. They get no compensation. • Do the builders of these wikis realise that Wikia can grow rich off their creative efforts? Other collaborative spaces: • Slashdot- commenting on comments technology • Usenet – where people voluntarily help people with problems on their pc. This is great news for Microsoft as they are not compensating them.

13. Communities • The other two types of hybrid economies were referred to in ‘spaces’ meaning that it is more of a narrower sense of community. • Communities then refer to places that aspire to be more than just a ‘space’. Second Life • The online version of your life. • You buy pay for things just like in the real world. • Second lifers contribute code. • Built software that make a better life. • Self –governance. World of Warcraft • Same idea as Second Life but takes place with in a mystical world. • Learning the benefits of community.

15. Will the hybrid economy continue... • Commercial and sharing economies gave rise to the hybrid but it is crucial that they are kept separate to maintain value. • Giving people what they want and getting a profit for it. • Because there is some commercial sense to this economy it needs to be careful not to exploit its communities. • Social contract between companies and users. • Over advertising = Adblock Plus

17. Co-existing and Crossing over • Commercial and sharing economies can exist separately. • Crossing over economies is possible. QUESTIONS: • In a hybrid economy is it the “free ride” concept or are both parties benefitting? • Will hybrid economies be able to keep their balance between commercial and sharing ? • And if they can will there still be space for commercial economies on the internet?