Forbes

Politics, E-Mail And The Gift Economy

Steve McGookin

" . . . far from the traditional hierarchical model of top-down information distribution, it is more likely to be ground-up, peer-to-peer networks--such as . . . MeetUp--using the principle of the gift economy* and enabled by communications technologies accessible to the many, not the few, that will make the greatest strides in galvanizing political participation, activism and discourse. Even if it begins with nothing more formalized than talking online with members of one's family about political choices."

* freely "distributing intellectual capital" amongst peers

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