YouthNation: Building Remarkable Brands in a Youth-Driven Culture

Chapter 6The Peer-to-Peer Economy

Just like in the old village square where we relied on our neighbors and fellow villagers to supply what we could not provide for ourselves, we are witnessing a community-fueled renaissance of sharing among what just a decade ago would be seen as complete strangers. The urbanization of America and its newfound population density has spawned a new powerful by-product of the Internet: the peer-to-peer economy.

When eBay first exploded in the late nineties during the original Internet boom, the novelty of selling your old stuff directly to somebody else without the need for a middleman was almost too cool to pass up. The Internet's connective powers began to allow consumers from all walks of life to buy and sell anything directly to each other. A user-generated ratings system helped ensure you wouldn't get ripped off, fostering a thriving community of eBay users. Today eBay is a $60 billion company, and it stands tall among a growing graveyard of traditional retailers like Circuit City and Blockbuster Video.

Why buy a camera from a store when there is an unused one sitting in a closet 10 blocks away at a fraction of the price? Why pay for a dog sitter tonight when someone three doors down with a love for dogs and an empty calendar is willing to do it for free, or for a service you can provide in exchange? Increasingly the products and services YouthNation is looking for are coming from peers instead of businesses, and as a result an entirely different ...