Givers and Takers

When I want to find out the lyrics to a song, or whether a particular juicer is all it’s cracked up to be, I go to the Web. Just like everyone else.

And I can almost always find it. Whether it’s amazon.com reviews, or just a personal Web site, someone, somewhere, has posted the information I want, for free. Obviously, it’s not always true or complete, but that’s not really my point.

Other than a short stint ten years ago, I’ve never posted a review on Amazon, or anywhere else. I use other people’s input very heavily, but I don’t give my own.

The same goes for travel Web sites, where people ask questions about certain destinations. Lots of people sign in and help out, giving away tons of information to help others. I have experience aplenty, but just don’t bother.

I just don’t go around looking to give information. I go to take. And I bet that most people do exactly what I do. So there’s some minority out there carrying the rest of us. Thanks, Minority!

5 Responses to Givers and Takers

  1. JB May 6, 2007 at 1:00 pm #

    I also think the minority deserves thanks, but not too much. They are, after all, getting something out of contributing.

    It’s nice to be needed, wanted, appreciated, and it’s also nice to feel you have some sort of claim on an area, topic, or Web site. Hang around a place long enough and you start to feel a sense of entitlement which is pretty satisfying. And it’s even satisfying, in a way, to fight back when someone comes along and calls you on that entitlement and points out that it only exists in your mind (and anyone supporting you.)

  2. JB May 6, 2007 at 1:02 pm #

    Followup:

    It’s like where we work. I feel a sense of entitlement, because I’ve worked there for over ten years. But my entitlement only goes as far as other people are willing to let it. Which is probably not as far as I think. Except at times like this, when I’m actively analyzing my own behavior and attitudes.

  3. weeklyrob May 6, 2007 at 3:43 pm #

    Maybe one of the reasons they do it is to be thanked on my blog.

  4. BruceS May 7, 2007 at 3:08 pm #

    Don’t think of yourself as a “taker”, but rather as a good listener.

  5. Kevin May 8, 2007 at 10:10 am #

    Isn’t this the whole “open-source”/wiki model? Somehow there are supposed to be enough people willing to contribute their coding and expertise for free that the rest of us can just take it freely and use it as we need it.

    It seems to work in some areas. For instance, there are plently of free / open source programs out there for decrypting and converting protected video content.

    On the other hand, I tried using an opensource content management system, but the project got sidetracked with the development team got in a big fight with each other and no one wanted to work on the project anymore. I hear a new team has volunteered, but it’s not clear if they’ll be able to get things completely back on track.

    You (and I) use WordPress for our blogs, and that’s another opensource venture. I’m definitely not going to be contributing anything (code-wise) to WordPress, I’m just a taker. And when I have a hard time finding the right plug-in or I find a feature that doesn’t work correctly, well, that’s just the way it is. Didn’t cost me anything, did it?

    But, much like I don’t actually trust Amazon reviews when I’m making large purchases, I don’t always trust wikipedia to be factual, and I wouldn’t trust open-source software to run a critical business application, either. Volunteerism is nice, and the volunteers should be appreciated, but professionalism is often worth paying for.

    Which is why it’s nice that Yahoo Music now offers lyrics! (http://music.yahoo.com/lyrics) They’re actually officially licensed and a portion of the advertising revenue goes to the artist.

    (no, I didn’t plan to end my comment with a plug for Yahoo music, but I realized I was starting to wander and I went back and re-read your post and then remembered I read a news story about lyrics in the WSJ)

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