I can think of quite a few instances where I or an immediate family member has participated in acts of generosity in a digital format.

     I have been involved in donating to various breast cancer causes such as the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and the Susan G. Komen 3 Day Walk for Breast Cancer . When people decide to participate in a walk they solicit for funds from friends and family via e-mail and include a link which directs you to their own web page within the charity’s site. At this point you can read a personal story as to why the person is walking and see their individual monetary goal. Once you donate online via credit card you can instantly see your donation listed on their web page. You can also leave words of encouragement for the walker or share your personal story as to why you are giving to this cause. I don’t have any statistics but I am sure the immediacy of giving has made these types of sites very successes because of the ease of the appeal. You read the person’s story and immediately click on the link to give. Not only are you participating in the person’s goals but sharing in their story by giving words of encouragement to take with them as they prepare and train for the walk. After the event is over the walker then shares with all who donated the successes of the experience. Personally this sharing via digital means has made me feel part of the process and not just someone who wrote a check. Shirky points out the example of the Grobanites, and while not quite as dramatic, these breast cancer giving sites offer a place for people to come together, share ideas and egg each other on.

     Another example is when my family donated to Heifer International.  We were acquainted with this organization through church but had never given a gift individually. Heifer International is an organization that gives livestock and training to poor families in order to improve their nutrition and generate income in sustainable ways. The animals are considered ‘living loans’ because in exchange for their livestock and training, families agree to give one of its animals’ offspring to another family in need. This past Christmas my family decided to donate to this cause. We went online and watched videos and read success stories about the program. We subscribed to the e-mail updates so we could follow the progress. We got to choose which type of animal we wanted to purchase for a family. My kids really got into the idea of buying the animals for others and we had great debates about whether we would purchase a goat or a flock of geese. This program makes my family feel part of the global village; we are not just bystanders but participants. Heifer International is an example that Shirky writes when he says “go public to find people who think like you”. For those who donate to Heifer it gives a sense of shared cultural norms that differ from those of the outside world.

     My husband Stephan is a computer programmer and has spent  plenty of free time working on open source code for the Linux operating system.  He works on open source code as a way to solve coding problems that he has personally encountered.  By working in the open source mode he shares with others and they in turn may share back with improvements.  He considers it a win-win for everyone involved. As Shirky questions “what would motivate someone to give up this much of her own time and money for something that produces no obvious tangible reward”?  I believe this is a way of sharing with like-minded people over time and space and helps advance work on the program in a cheap and efficient manner. Stephan prefers working with open source coding versus proprietary programs.  Propriety programs either work or they don’t; the user is beholden to the company’s product.  With open source the user can alter the code to fit their needs.  Often he looks at open source to understand the internals but with propriety code it is often difficult or illegal to do the same.

     Stephan also subscribes to a Linux user support group. This global group is run independently of the company and is a way for users around the world to share ideas and expertise. He had a programming question he posted regarding a problem in a book written by a particularly well known Linux author and was absolutely thrilled to have the author answer his question directly. Shirky points out that amateurs get involved with this type of work for the sheer joy of working together on something because humans intrinsically value a sense of connectedness.