We scour the internet to find the most interesting news on the collaborative consumption front. Here are our picks for the week:
Nathan Schneider, Aljazeera
Sharing could lead the way to a more just and sustainable society, one in which we consume less and collaborate more. But it could also be a means for Big Business to creep even more fully into our lives, exploiting our relationships with one another and turning every attempt at generosity into an act of consumption.
Grocery deliveries in sharing economy
Farhad Manjoo, New York Times
Instacart, a grocery delivery startup, operates according to a decentralized business model that borrows from services like Uber, Airbnb and other firms in the so-called sharing economy. And it is not only potentially lucrative, but also could redefine how we think about the future of labor.
First conviction for illegal subletting via Airbnb
Audrey Fournier, Le Monde
This is certainly not the first time that a dispute about a sublease ends before the courts, but this is the first time that the name of the site that has been sublet thehousing , Airbnb, one of the most important platforms of this type is clearly cited.
Signs that the collaborative economy is going through puberty
Lisa Gansky,FastCompany
Like any living thing, economies have lifecycles. With a bit of careful observation of the “collaborative economy,” it’s clear this new model of commerce has reached that awkward, in-between stage where the old norms no longer hold true, but the new ones aren’t quite fully formed yet either.
Infographic: Collaborative Economy Honeycomb
Nancy Scola, Next City
This infographic explains the breakdown of the sharing economy.
