I recently completed a draft of my working paper on the socio-technical design characteristics of websites for the sharing economy. In the paper I analyze findings from a pilot study I conducted over the summer with users of both Ourgoods.org and Taskrabbit.com. Using Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice, I analyze the findings to understand the ways in which users engage both with each other and with features of the site to establish the norms that will frame their transaction.

This paper is inspired by the writings of Yochai Benkler and Cameron Tonkinwise who both acknowledge the critically important role social norms play as mediators of transaction in the sharing economy. For both Benkler and Tonkinwise, a range of norms must be shared between each transacting principle. The question then becomes one of how the transacting principles negotiate, identify, and understand what the shared normative framework will be. 

If you would like a copy of the paper, please send me an email.