My Gift Economy Space

A gift economy is not exactly the easiest thing to define. Peter Kollock breaks down what a gift economy represents in the online world by simply asking, “What is a gift?” Starting with the basic definition that a gift is “the obligatory transfer of inalienable objects or services,” it appears that the Internet certainly could be a place for this to occur. Thus, it would be inferred that a gift economy would simply be the forum in which this took place, presumably a website with posts, blogs, etc. The conclusion that Kollock reaches is that the Internet has opened up a whole new give-take world in which users can connect and interact with one another about topics or issues that are of universal concern. Furthermore, not only can ideas be shared, debates waged, and advice given, but both sides should come out of the experience with a time- and cost-efficient sense of accomplishment.

While I generally do not use the Internet for what appears to be our general definition for a gift economy, a website that I do use, I believe, belongs in that category: MySpace. Yes, MySpace is more often than not brought up only to serve as the butt of a joke. However, the site has a built itself an incredible forum for exploiting new music and video that has the ability to reach an audience of millions on a daily basis. Because MySpace had become so popular with its users logging in daily to post comments to other users, it was inevitable that this huge flow of traffic would be taken advantage of to exploit media. Therefore, MySpace music was born, allowing bands and artists to create user pages with streaming audio and later video to be played at free will. Users could download these songs or videos for free, or could simply link them to their own page so that personal pages could also have streaming audio. This simple change propelled an already growing website into the stratosphere, and became a very good example of a give-take relationship between artist and fan. By posting even 30 second clips of songs on their page, bands could gain exposure from anyone who stumbled upon their site, and begin to get the word out on their music.


The most notorious example of this to date (and most god-awful in my opinion) is Cute Is What We Aim For. While it pains me to write about that band in a blog, and even more so that they are from Buffalo, they are the epitome of what MySpace music has done for hopeful youths. Not even out of highschool before they struck nation-wide fame, they became forever linked with MySpace in that their music gained an extraordinarily large fan base in a manner that was previously unattainable. Richard Barbrook touches on this topic in, "The High-Tech Gift Economy," stating that bands learned long ago that giving away music usually attracts more possible sales than denies them, as the record companies have long-feared. While MySpace is a haven for new-music-starved youths, it is also a pretty sly marketing scheme for big-business artists. While unsuspecting underage users are constantly searching for the song or band that represents their “independent, different” selves, they are exploring more and more artists that they are probably enjoying and eventually buying their music. With the introduction of the MySpace Music Store, it seems that Tom and his constantly heckled website continue to do nothing but improve themselves by the minute.

As they say, the proof is in the pudding; whether you love it or hate it, MySpace has blown away the possibility of competition in its field (Facebook has its die-hards, but has yet to reach par).




Barbrook, R. (Decmeber 2005). The High-Tech Gift Economy. First Monday, Special Issue #3. Retrieved February 9, 2007, from http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue3_12/barbrook

Kollock, P. (1999). The Economies of Online Cooperation:
Gifts and Public Goods in Cyberspace. Communities in Cyberspace. Retrieved February 9, 2007, from http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/kollock/papers/economies.htm

Downloading, To Me, Is Not Too Fergilicious

The very mention of the words “downloading” and “filesharing” in any conversation are liable to spark a debate right on the spot. The topic of copyright infringement has been one of the hottest and most controversial since it has become so easy for the average person to obtain illegal copies of media on the Internet. There are two parties involved in this argument; the first is the artist/producer/whoever is in possession of the copyrighted material, and their best interest is to put out a product that can be stored as media on a computer, but not to lose money when people illegally download the product instead of purchasing it. The opposing side is the consumer, mainly the average person, whose best interest is to obtain the media he or she desires in the cheapest possible manner, which is usually illegal downloading (free!) The problem with this issue has been how to compromise so that both sides get a fair shake, and a thorough solution has been elusive since the beginning. Another major concern is that many people do not fully understand the consequences and seriousness of the offense, as many myths and rumors are constantly floating around about what “fair use” really means in legal terms (Brady).
When debating this issue, one will not likely bring anything new to the table unless he or she first chooses a side. I say this because I have personally been in conversations with people who are neutral about the topic, and it generally goes in circles and no one even comes close to suggesting a solution. “It’s really unfair to the artists who worked so hard on their product…” “…but I love downloading songs I have like a million on my computer now.” A conversation like that is simply restating the problem that has been in question for over a decade now. Therefore, the side I will choose is that of the artist or owner, albeit I know it is not a popular side outside of the entertainment industry and especially nowhere near a college campus. Sure, I have illegally downloaded music in the past, and I even presently have about 25 downloaded songs on my computer. Compared to the majority of my generation, however, that number is laughable. On the other hand, my CD collection, (yes, small metallic objects known as “compact discs” that also hold music) is quite impressive.
So what is the reason that I will always go out and buy a new CD rather than just download the single (most everyone who even uses iTunes downloads singles and not albums)? Stupidity? Ignorance? Stubborness? The argument for any of the three could be made I suppose. The real reason is that I do not believe in downloading or obtaining something for free that is not rightfully yours to have. Aw, how adorable, right? Most college students could not give a-you-know-what about possessing something that is not “rightfully” theirs. There are not too many levels to this point in my argument, however. To be put simply, once you start to understand and get a feel for the way the business world works, even the way life works in general, it is not always about having as much as possible for as cheap as possible. Yes, this aspect of life dominates many decisions we make. If I like an artist’s music, however, I have enough respect for what they have done to purchase the CD for $11. (A whole different argument could be started right here about where people buy their CDs. My advice: go to shows, go to record shops, do not go to FYE and pay $19.99 for Led Zeppelin IV which has been out for 36 years). After all, the artist and the record companies are primarily considered with the first sale. Once that first sale is made, it is your decision to do anything you want with your copy of the material.
The second reason I do not illegally download music is that I think people (and sometimes artists) today often completely miss the point of an album. An artist puts out an album, record, CD, whatever you want to call it these days. What he or she does not put out is an iTune. While I believe iTunes is a really great idea, and as we all know is greatly beneficial to the problem but still not the solve-all, I would hope by the time we all reach the collegiate level, we understand the business of music enough to know that singles are face-value smoke and mirror tricks to lure in half-awake potential consumers. Very rarely are the singles the best material on the album. And while iTunes certainly does give one the option of purchasing the album, I have rarely encountered anyone who purchases full albums online on a consistent basis.
So my suggestion for fixing the problem is that everyone decides to just be honest and fair and experience music in more than just a knee-jerk ADD-like reaction? Well, let’s word that differently. My hope is that once everyone reaches the collegiate level, some of these big-business marketing schemes will start to sink in, and people will just in general grow and become smarter about their music and the way society in general should work. I think limiting the problem is much more feasible than actually stopping it altogether. What can you do about 12 year old girls with access to LimeWire and Kiss 98.5? Not too much.


Brady, Kevin S. Coypright FAQ: 25 Myths and Misconceptions. Retrieved Feb. 2, 2007 from https://ublearns.buffalo.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_39998_1.

COM125 Week 2: It's 4 AM and I Couldn't Sleep Because I Was Thinking About Hypertext

Although it was just one of many processes that had to be realized during the long road to the creation of today’s Internet, the development of hypertext was undeniably one of the most important. Hypertext is defined by Wikipedia as a way of organizing material in such a manner that overcomes the natural linear restraints of basic traditional text. What does this mean in terms that the average anybody can grasp? Well basically, when speaking of hypertext in terms of computers, by clicking a hyperlink, a user can load a webpage that has either been previously stored in a static location or generated in response to input. Webpages are merely the documents and applications that are stimulated by hyperlinks with the help of a computer network like the Internet. Stated in an even more stripped-down fashion than that, think of a massive all-encompassing encyclopedia that exists somewhere, only you cannot see what you are looking for until you actually take the initiative to tell the encyclopedia to show it to you. Hypertext existed in theory long before it ever actually materialized, mostly due to cost restrictions. Visionaries such as Paul Otlet and H.G. Wells were among the first credited with acknowledging that humans were having a problem with “information overload.” Put simply, there needed to be some sort of universal index that one could easily use to access necessary knowledge about a specific topic. Thus, researchers would not be attempting the same research over and over without realizing that the conclusions to such data was available, yet difficult to find and/or access. Thirty years after the problem was made aware, Ted Nelson and Douglas Engelbart, inspired by Vannevar Bush’s piece “As We May Think,” were credited with the invention of what we currently accept as hypertext. Their systems were slow developing in the early 1960s, and Engelbart’s demonstration of hypertext to the public for the first time didn’t come until 1968. Throughout the 1980s, many different versions of hypertexts came and went as if they were fashion trends. The inability of any of the unique systems to break through with mainstream success opened the door wide open for the next step in history; in the late 1980s, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web to fulfill the need for information sharing between scientists working on different computers all over the world. The World Wide Web, while failing to incorporate many of the features of past systems, easily became the most famous and widely used example of hypertext after the Web exploded in the mid-1990s. The huge boom in Web servers was largely due to the fact that browser versions were released for both the PC and Macintosh worlds. The first and foremost reason why hypertext is such an important part of our lives is the way, through the use of the Web, the invention has revolutionized how we can search for our information. In using the Internet on almost a daily basis, the majority of the population is interacting with a system that does not receive any of the glory, but does all the work. In other words, when we think of the Internet, we think of specific webpages that we often visit. The webpages contain the flashy art and the stunning colors, the scrolling text and the slideshow of pictures. Next time we access those webpages, however, we should be aware that hypertext and hyperlinks are to those webpages as oil and gasoline are to a car. Without a system that is storing and instantly accessing the data immediately upon request, there is no World Wide Web, but rather a useless Inter-network of linked computers.

First Entry

Hi, my name is Tony Lojacono and this is the first post of my awesome new Com125 blog. I'm a junior COM major at UB with no specific job field in mind at the moment. I try to maintain a good balance in life among school, work, and socializing. I naturally find humor in most things, and sarcasm is my daily hobby. I am looking forward to talking about myself and then being able to read about myself on a weekly basis in this blog.