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they want to go. Feastly promises to “democratize
dining” by enabling home chefs to invite
eaters into their house. Dog-loving social entrepreneurs
can register with DogVacay, getting
their canine love fix by caring for dogs rather
than owning them (and making some money,
to boot).
Sharing is also about knowledge, as an increasing
number of platforms help people market
what’s in their head and
hands: Skillshare for
teachers, The Amazings
for “crafty elders,” Vayable
for knowledgeable locals
willing to serve as tour
guides for their city.
It’s even about money
itself: Lending Club lets
consumers lend money
directly to each other,
bypassing the bank.
"Social media is about
sharing online. We've
extended that behavior into
the offline world…
The last century was
predicated around
ownership as status.
There’s an opportunity
for this century to be
defined by access as status.”
In the future, the Sharing Economy may accelerate
as it begins to interface with the Internet
of Things. Internet-connected sensing devices
could post their availability for use without a
human intermediary, resulting in even more
efficient allocation of resources. (This concept
has been explored by Brad the Toaster, an
appliance who, when he finds himself to be
underused and underappreciated, ships himself
to a more suitable “host.”)
What This Means for
Society
Some people fear the
effect of collaborative
consumption on the
economy could be catastrophic,
as it disrupts traditional
businesses such
as taxi services and hotels,
lowers home prices, and
deprives governments of
And sharing is, sometimes,
truly altruistic. Portland,
for one, is chock-a-block
with nonprofit or informal
“sharing” services such as
—Joe Gebbia, co-founder Airbnb
taxes and fees. It’s not a
simple equation, however.
Services like Airbnb
stimulate travel in two
ways: they provide affordable
Yardshare—a forum to open unused land to
gardeners. This forum plays out on a national
scale as well: the Neighborhood Fruit app
encourages people to find and share fruit,
“both backyard bounty and abundance on
public lands”; it has mapped 10,000 trees and
counting. Piqniq helps colleagues organize
food-sharing groups in their workplace. These
examples of noncommercial, organized “sharing”
are ways for people to value “community
housing for travelers, and they provide
income to offset the cost of travel for a home
owner who wants to hit the road. This may
help nurture a rebound in tourism after years
of recession-driven “staycations.” When Sony
teamed with the U.K.’s Forum for the Future to
look at life in 2025, one of the scenarios they
envisioned was a future in which the global
economy is based on shared ownership and
P2P transactions.
over selfishness, and sustainability over
novelty.”
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