The Contribution Economy

An interesting article in Fortune Magazine David Kirkpatrick....

Ever since the Internet started to connect everyone to everyone else all the time, people from around the world can more easily contribute energy, ideas, and knowledge to joint projects. Some of the more familiar examples of these collaborative efforts include blogs, open-source software, podcasts, and even the nonprofit online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

Open-source programming has been in the forefront of this movement for years, but the concept is steadily spreading elsewhere.

When users chip in on projects—commercial or otherwise—the experience improves for everybody. I call this phenomenon the contribution economy. This is how it works: If a blogger posts a thought about something in the news, another blogger can add his or her own comment. Or when someone—anyone!—modifies a listing on Wikipedia, value is created that benefits everyone.  Read more (Fortune Magazine)