Peer production
 |
Peer production (also known by the term mass collaboration or commons-based peer production) is a way of producing goods and services that relies on self-organizing communities of individuals who come together to produce a shared outcome. In these communities, the efforts of a large number of people are coordinated to create meaningful projects. Notable modern examples are Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, and Linux, a computer operating system. Peer production refers to the production process on which the previous examples are based.
Peer production occurs in a socio-technical system which allows thousands of individuals to effectively cooperate to create a non-exclusive given outcome [1]. These collective efforts are informal. There is no ownership of peer-produced entities, since it a collaborative effort with no limit to the amount of discussion or changes that can be made to the product (benkler and Nissenbaum). However, as in the case of Wikipedia, a large amount, in fact the majority, of this collaborative effort is maintained by a relatively small number of devoted and active individuals [2]. It is the consistent activity of these individuals which dictates the success on a given project.
Crowdsourcing products like community cookbooks were an form of peer production. Gooseberry Patch has used its customer/friend community to create its line of exclusive cookbooks for over 18 years.
External links
- TED: Ideas worth spreading - Yochai Benkler introduces peer production.
- The Emergence of Open Design and Open Manufacturing Michel Bauwens, We Magazine Volume 2
- Quality Management of Peer Production
 | This economic term article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |