C. Shirky ‘What is P2P… And what isn’t?

Question

Why is P2P so important for autonomous online operating, socially speaking?

Answer

First of all, Clay Shirky describes P2P as characterised by a lack of centralisation. The nodes, the connecting points of the networks, do not require a central server to operate. Individuals at the edges of the Internet can operate autonomously. Shirky focuses on the technical aspects and states that one of the reasons the P2P is so important, is that by using P2P computing environments, unused hard disk space and computer memory can pooled together. This allows a lot of simultaneous processing that otherwise would not have been available on one computer. Also, the lack of stable IP-addresses allows the circumventing of dominant server systems (DNS and before that TCP). The decentralisation that P2P makes possible cuts down the costs and administration.

Socially, I think that chatting programmes and their connectivity are the most important possibility of P2P technology. Programs like ICQ and MSN offer an alternative to centralised programs and enable users to contact each other wherever they are. (I have to say I’m not sure whether MSN has a central server or not). It is a way of keeping contact with friends, near or far, and even meet new people, for example by inviting new people into an ongoing conversation. Programs like Kazaa and Napster also often have a chat option. This could even bring people together. For example, you (regularly) see a person with a certain ID downloading certain songs from your computer and you start up a conversation with him/her.

E. Rutherford ‘The P2P report’

Question

E. Rutherford says that some industry watchers predict that commercial ventures will start using P2P networks. Isn’t this contradictory?

Answer

In a way, commercial ventures can already profit from P2P technology. Some versions of Kazaa for example include commercials. Also, like B. Wellman and J. Boase describe in their article, programs like ICQ are also part of P2P networks and, as I will argue next, will allow for faster and more widespread diffusion of viral marketing. These examples, however, are not part of a large scaled or very targeted commercial project. Viral marketing’s efficiency and reach is hard to predict.

Personal commercial usage of the P2P network could be commercialised, because it would not mean people would have to pay more to use it. Selling items without having to resort to E-Bay or others auctioneers would only be easier. I doubt that it will be possible for companies to really commercialise P2P networks on a big scale. Not because it is not possible per se, but because of the inevitable resistance of the users. I think P2P technology has been and is so successful because it allows users to contact people and to download music without intervention of central servers and, maybe more importantly, for free. I do not believe they will be willing to give that up, even if it would mean, as experts argue, being able to access other people’s e-book files.

B. Wellman and J. Boase ‘A plague of viruses’

Question

What did the advent of the Internet mean for viral marketing?

Answer

The speed and range of viral marketing has been greatly increased by the Internet. Viral marketing, the spreading of information by word-of-mouth, comes in different forms of diffusion, of spreading: through strong ties, through weak ties and through observation.

Strong ties, the bonds between friends for example, can be made even more effective through e-mail messages, like the forwarding of a certain commercial or joke or the posting of a message or poll on a weblog. The range of this sort of diffusion will probably not have changed because of the Internet, because it is hard to create strong ties solely by being on the net. These messages will therefore only reach the people you already know. The speed with which they will spread has greatly increased though.

Weak ties will increase in speed and range. You see someone’s e-mail address online, for example in a chatbox, and ad it to your list of e-mail addresses. You don’t really know this person, so it is unlikely that you will send him personal stories. However, when you get sent petitions, you will send that to as many people as possible, if it’s a cause you agree with. All those people you normally wouldn’t even have met in real life now get this message in an instant. Another example: someone could happen to end up on your weblog after being linked to it on another site. He or she can read the information on your site and learn of preferences and perhaps be influenced by that.

Spam, headers and pop-ups, unwanted as they may be, are also forms of viral marketing and weren’t possible before the advent of the Internet. These are forms of diffusion through observation. First, you may have seen someone walking on the streets and be influenced by this person’s style, now the same may be true for ads and pop-ups on websites. I don’t think these sorts of advertising have increased the speed of marketing, because observation itself is a very fast way of diffusion. The range, again, has been enlarged however. The ad or fashion mark you missed walking on the street, may pup op on your screen the next day.