Forum for Science, Industry and Business

Consumption as a basis for social solidarity

Like traditional social systems, self-imposed rules emerge in the process of downloading and uploading files, and symbolisms show up in the usernames people choose for themselves. Members of online file-sharing communities also adhere to a norm of reciprocity – that is, they must share music if they want to receive any.

"One of the most interesting conceptual take-aways of this research is that social solidarity is not only to be found in the classic and often romanticized social organs of family, neighborhood, or church community," explains Giesler.

However, there are two key distinctions that differentiate online file sharing networks from other consumption-based communities. Online file sharing networks have a far greater scale than previously studied gift systems. Additionally, the gift is non-sacrificial, remaining with the donor after the transaction.

"Napster's consumer gift system is more global in nature and exhibits more nomadic and non-committal type of gifting solidarity in comparison to the more 'organic' gift systems previously studied," Giesler says. "This study has provided an alternative consumer-centric culturally grounded model of contemporary gift-giving."

Suzanne Wu | EurekAlert!
Further information:
http://www.uchicago.edu

Im Focus: Why we need erasable MRI scans

New technology could allow an MRI contrast agent to 'blink off,' helping doctors diagnose disease

Magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, is a widely used medical tool for taking pictures of the insides of our body. One way to make MRI scans easier to read is...

Im Focus: BAM@Hannover Messe: innovative 3D printing method for space flight

At the Hannover Messe 2018, the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und-prüfung (BAM) will show how, in the future, astronauts could produce their own tools or spare parts in zero gravity using 3D printing. This will reduce, weight and transport costs for space missions. Visitors can experience the innovative additive manufacturing process live at the fair.

Powder-based additive manufacturing in zero gravity is the name of the project in which a component is produced by applying metallic powder layers and then...

Im Focus: Molecules Brilliantly Illuminated

Physicists at the Laboratory for Attosecond Physics, which is jointly run by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität and the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, have developed a high-power laser system that generates ultrashort pulses of light covering a large share of the mid-infrared spectrum. The researchers envisage a wide range of applications for the technology – in the early diagnosis of cancer, for instance.

Molecules are the building blocks of life. Like all other organisms, we are made of them. They control our biorhythm, and they can also reflect our state of...

Im Focus: Spider silk key to new bone-fixing composite

University of Connecticut researchers have created a biodegradable composite made of silk fibers that can be used to repair broken load-bearing bones without the complications sometimes presented by other materials.

Repairing major load-bearing bones such as those in the leg can be a long and uncomfortable process.

Im Focus: Writing and deleting magnets with lasers

Study published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces is the outcome of an international effort that included teams from Dresden and Berlin in Germany, and the US.

Scientists at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) together with colleagues from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and the University of Virginia...