“OPPORTUNITIES THOUGHT IMPRACTICAL BECAUSE OF PERCEIVED TRUST BARRIERS ARE NOW FAIR GAME. THE EXAMPLES OF LENDING CLUB, COUCHSURFING, AND THREDUP SHOW THAT PEOPLE ARE ENGAGING IN INTIMATE TRANSACTIONS WITH STRANGERS DRIVEN BY TECHNOLOGY, NEW NORMS, AND NEED. THIS IS THE TRUST FRONTIER. WE ARE YET TO DISCOVER HOW FAR WE CAN PUSH THIS FRONTIER.

THIS IS THE DECADE WHEN WE ANSWER THE QUESTION: “HOW MUCH CAN WE SHARE?”

– Neal Gorenflo, Publisher of SHAREABLE MAGAZINE

The advance of media and technology was first groundbreaking and the its ability to connect people to information. Then it was really about connecting people to other people when Web 2.0 was introduced. Now, the natural extension of all this is connecting people to stuff – I mean not only content sharing online but physical things of everyday live as well. We came to a point where online, shared interest communities, real-time and location- aware channels have created a perfect storm for sharing in the physical world.

Just think for a moment of the number of cars on the road. The resources we have in our own communities are so massive. For that reason in US there are already some peer-to-peer car-sharing models that allow to leverage the resources instead of starting form scratch. Not to mention to environmental benefits by using available goods more efficiently rather than manufacturing more new.

Participants from across the globe (n=537) took a Web-based survey which captured sharing attitudes and current engagement with sharing in a variety of contexts, with a focus on establishing benchmarks for the new sharing economy. The study also sought to understand trust, the role of community, and the new psychology of sharing. Participants were asked to identify future sharing opportunities—new models and service offerings—across industries for both businesses and society at large.