Qualities of Sharing and their Transformations in the Digital Age

Authors

  • Andreas Wittel

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29173/irie218

Abstract

This article examines the social side of sharing. It is an attempt to work towards a sociological concept of sharing in the digital age. This is the hypothesis: different forms of sharing have different qualities with respect to the social. Digital technologies bring about new forms of sharing. In order to support this claim I will analyse the social qualities of sharing by focusing on the object, on what is being shared. Using an object-centred analysis it will be argued that digital forms of sharing introduce a new function of sharing. Whereas pre-digital sharing was about exchange, sharing with digital technologies is about exchange and about distribution.

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Published

2011-09-01

How to Cite

Wittel, Andreas. 2011. “Qualities of Sharing and Their Transformations in the Digital Age”. The International Review of Information Ethics 15 (September). Edmonton, Canada:3-8. https://doi.org/10.29173/irie218.