1st, I’m perfectly aware that I’m using blogging as a way of avoiding the stress of preparing for quals., thank you.

Now, I’m hopping back on-board the Andrew Keen is an Idiot bus. His latest narrow minded commentary is that the economic downturn will mean the end of Web 2.0’s ‘free labor’ movement. Knol will thrive, Wikipedia will fail, etc., etc., etc.

Here are a few reasons why this will absolutely not happen, Wikipedia will be fine, and we’ll all keep participating on the internet:

1. Keen’s commentary is narrow minded in the same way that Wired editor Chris Anderson’s is (See this recent Wired article), but in the opposite direction. Anderson said the future of the web is FREE. Keen says the future of the web is $$. The truth is: both AND neither. People who participate in Wikipedia or Flickr or blogs may not reap their rewards in cash (some of them do, of course) but they do reap rewards. They connect with other people. They come to identify with social groups. They feel smart, they feel like their knowledge and opinions are valued and unique. They get reputational benefits and status rewards. Yes, I know - the economists are chomping at the bit to tell you that reputational benefits are just future cash rewards when your smart blog helps get you a better job. Sure, that’s part of it, but not all of it. The point is, both Anderson and Keen are zeroed in on cash at the expense of all the other rewards (in econospeak: externalities) out there. Maybe that’s because they’re trying to cultivate a readership. But it’s also a common point of view - reduce everything to numbers because that’s what fits in my spreadsheet.
2. Other rewards - let’s call them social psychological rewards - are insulated from economic crisis. Sure, if you’re about to starve or the police are knocking at your door to evict you, you might be spending less time on the internet. Social psychological rewards are great, though, because you can keep right on getting them when you lose your job and can’t pay your bills. You can take solace in the constancy of community, and the fact that you still make a difference somewhere. Do people stop watching TV when they lose their jobs? Do they stop eating, smoking, knitting, running, hanging out with friends, or whatever it is they do to feel normal, even good? Nope. In fact, they often bury themselves in those things. Keen admits this himself, but for him it’s because people who are out of a job will have nothing better to do. For me it’s because of the rewards.
3. Furthermore, most people don’t have the expectation of monetary reward. This is the fundamental economic fallacy - people don’t go around trying to convert their lives into economic gain. Sure, most models will assume that, but it’s only part of the picture. There are so many other preferences, values, social interactions that figure in to the choices we make. We’re not all marching around with dollar signs in our eyes. I just think it wouldn’t occur to most people to think ‘Now that I’m out of a job, I’d better get paid for blogging!’ because that’s not what it’s about for them. Keen seems to be the only one screaming that these people should be paid, and that’s because (as I said above), he’s so stubbornly ignorant of the other benefits they receive.