I was really intrigued by the virtual choir video shown in class on Wednesday. I had never seen anything like that before. I think that our abilities to collaboratively create things are only going to expand. One thing I wanted to talk about was the digital marketplace. The most obvious website that I can think of is Etsy. Etsy is an online marketplace that allows individuals to buy and sell products from each other. People can create things with their own materials, whether they be crafts or clothes or wedding items, and then sell them to people via the web. This goes along with what Professor Burton was saying about the rise in DIYs--since people have the ability to easily get their work out to people, they feel more empowered to start their own line of crafts. I have personally purchased things on Etsy. The buying process puts you in direct contact with the creator/seller; there is no middle man to go through, at least when you purchase from the website. There is even a tab for registry so that people can register through Etsy for their wedding, bridal shower, etc. People are drawn to these items because they are unique. No one else will have what they have. The digital marketplace has definitely increased the number of DIYers and the number of people buying from private sellers rather than from bigger manufacturers.
http://www.etsy.com/
You're right, I think a lot of the draw for Etsy is to have something that no one else will have. It reminds me of how I was just telling my sister (who is still in high school out of state) that now is a great time to buy clothes from the BYU Bookstore or from Downeast, because no one from her high school will be wearing the same thing (whereas if she buys them when she's at BYU, a LOT of people probably will too). We clearly all want to be unique.
ReplyDeleteThere are definitely a ton of "stores" (is that the right word?) popping up like this for all kinds of things. Dr. Burton mentioned threadless.com, but there's also redbubble.com, kickstarter.com (more for creative projects, but almost always with rewards for backers), indiegogo.com, and I'm sure millions of others. And I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Pinterest has some kind of "Buy this!" button on pins, opening yet another venue for this interesting kind of "direct economy" the internet has created.
ReplyDeleteThe mom-and-pop store of yesteryear is evolving into the anyone-can-sell-anything platforms like Etsy. It's interesting to see where do-it-yourself intersects with citizen capitalism. The lemonade stand is now online and it's artisan lemonades in a zillion flavors. Have you ever sold anything online?
ReplyDeleteI have sold a textbook online before. Even though it was not a creation of my own, I still felt the implications of the digital marketplace.
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