Before you read this, immediately scroll down and read Caspian James' stirring tales of fish and fellatio (or lack thereof). My post isn't at all related to his, but all the same, his post needs to be loved. I've had to hold off on posting this for a few days, just for him to shine on.
At this point we can all agree that the internet is for porn.
This question, however, relates to the 1.3% or so of the internet that is not hardcore gonzo porn.
Basically, you have your webpages set up as commercial services, your Amazons, Walmarts, Best Buys, etc. Those are easy enough to explain.
You also, however, have some websites that are set up primarily as community information centers. They make some ad revenue, but are pretty much there to collect community knowledge. I am thinking here of sites like wikipedia, youtube, urbandictionary, etc. Sites where people know something cool, or have a cool file, and take the time to put it up on the web for the general public to access.
I find myself using those sites more and more. Whenever I hear about a crazy sports moment that happened, I go to youtube to check it out. When I hear of a concept or term I don't understand or would like more in depth analysis on, I go to wikipedia or urbandictionary. Most times, those sites had just what it was that I needed, and if they don't, I get kind of pissed off.
That said, I have never contributed anything to any of the community-knowledge sites, and have no plans to at the moment. I have nothing against adding information to the internet, I just can't be bothered to take the time at the moment. I don't count this particular site as adding anything because I really don't add to anyone's knowledge, I think we can all agree on that.
I wonder, however, who are the people that maintain these sites and whether they will eventually get tired of doing it. I am, shamelessly, feeloading off of their efforts. What do they get from it? What motivates someone to put a video on youtube, especially if the video does not feature something they did themselves? What about wiki? Is there a prestige value attached to being a main contributor to the site? Is that enough to where people are going to want to contribute to it?
Basically, what is the dynamic (psychological, economic, etc.) that is causing people to provide me with all of this cool knowledge and shit, and is that dynamic sustainable?? I'm scared.
At this point we can all agree that the internet is for porn.
This question, however, relates to the 1.3% or so of the internet that is not hardcore gonzo porn.
Basically, you have your webpages set up as commercial services, your Amazons, Walmarts, Best Buys, etc. Those are easy enough to explain.
You also, however, have some websites that are set up primarily as community information centers. They make some ad revenue, but are pretty much there to collect community knowledge. I am thinking here of sites like wikipedia, youtube, urbandictionary, etc. Sites where people know something cool, or have a cool file, and take the time to put it up on the web for the general public to access.
I find myself using those sites more and more. Whenever I hear about a crazy sports moment that happened, I go to youtube to check it out. When I hear of a concept or term I don't understand or would like more in depth analysis on, I go to wikipedia or urbandictionary. Most times, those sites had just what it was that I needed, and if they don't, I get kind of pissed off.
That said, I have never contributed anything to any of the community-knowledge sites, and have no plans to at the moment. I have nothing against adding information to the internet, I just can't be bothered to take the time at the moment. I don't count this particular site as adding anything because I really don't add to anyone's knowledge, I think we can all agree on that.
I wonder, however, who are the people that maintain these sites and whether they will eventually get tired of doing it. I am, shamelessly, feeloading off of their efforts. What do they get from it? What motivates someone to put a video on youtube, especially if the video does not feature something they did themselves? What about wiki? Is there a prestige value attached to being a main contributor to the site? Is that enough to where people are going to want to contribute to it?
Basically, what is the dynamic (psychological, economic, etc.) that is causing people to provide me with all of this cool knowledge and shit, and is that dynamic sustainable?? I'm scared.
posted by f theb at 8:50 AM
1 Comments:
I think it's because nobody has anything better to do either.
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