Peer Production and Collaboration

February 15

Note: To make up for the snow day on February 1, tonight's class will run an extra hour, until 8:30pm.

The free software movement is one example of a trend towards distributed volunteer networks of individuals collaborating on collective projects that were formerly the domain of the for-profit private sector. In this session, we explore how far such peer production can go in redefining the economic and social structures of modern society.

Readings

• Yochai Benkler, News, Information and the Wealth of Networks (watch from 8:32 to 26:07)
• Zittrain, Chapter 4: The Generative Pattern
• Joseph Reagle, ”Be Nice”: Wikipedia Norms for Supportive Communication

Additional Resources

The following audio streams from NPR may be interesting:

• Wikipedia, Open Source and the Future of the Web
• Wikipedia Wins Users and Critics by Jenny Lawton
• Wikipedia's Growth Comes with Concerns by Laura Sydell

Links

Chris Anderson: People Power

Business Week: The Power of Us

Nasa: Clickworkers Study

Yochai Benkler's Seminal Work on Peer Production: Coase's Penguin

Jimbo Wales: Talk on the Wikipedia Community