I found the example of a pub really interesting. One could see sites like Reddit as something like this. On the other hand, pubs don’t use unpaid “volunteers” (at least outside the US) to wait the tables.
In the end the proposition of an online community, made and maintained by the community, seems at odds with making profit. Maybe concepts like Lemmy can fill the gap and each user only has to provide their share to keep their instance running.
Yes, we have to distinguish network effects, where more people -> more value, from volunteer roles.
A popular bar/club/social media site gains a lot of its value from its popularity. That’s different from people voluntarily providing labor for the maintenance of a place.
There can certainly be overlap between these concepts, but I wouldn’t say they’re equivalent.
I found the example of a pub really interesting. One could see sites like Reddit as something like this. On the other hand, pubs don’t use unpaid “volunteers” (at least outside the US) to wait the tables.
In the end the proposition of an online community, made and maintained by the community, seems at odds with making profit. Maybe concepts like Lemmy can fill the gap and each user only has to provide their share to keep their instance running.
Yes, we have to distinguish network effects, where more people -> more value, from volunteer roles.
A popular bar/club/social media site gains a lot of its value from its popularity. That’s different from people voluntarily providing labor for the maintenance of a place.
There can certainly be overlap between these concepts, but I wouldn’t say they’re equivalent.