The Trouble With Sharing: Interpersonal Challenges in Peer-to-Peer Exchange

Abstract: Peer-to-peer exchange is a type of sharing that involves the transfer of valued resources, such as goods and services, among members of a local community and/or between parties who have not met before the exchange encounter. It involves online systems that allow strangers to exchange in ways that were previously confined to the realm of kinship and friendship. This talk brings up attempts to foster the sharing of goods and services in local communities and considers the intricacies of sharing homes temporarily with strangers (also referred to as hospitality exchange or network hospitality). Some of the exchange arrangements discussed involve money while others explicitly ban participants from using it. All rely on digital technologies, but the trickiest challenges have more to do with social interaction than technical features. This talk explores what makes peer-to-peer exchange challenging, with an emphasis on reciprocity, closeness, and participation: How should we reciprocate? How might we manage interactions with those we encounter to attain some closeness but not too much? What keeps people from getting involved or draws them into exchange activities that they would rather avoid?

Bio: Airi Lampinen is an Associate Professor in Human-Computer Interaction at the Computer and Systems Sciences Department at Stockholm University and a Docent in Social Psychology at the University of Helsinki. Her research is focused on interpersonal challenges at the intersections of economic encounters, exchange platforms, and algorithmic systems. Lampinen is a founding faculty member of the Stockholm Technology and Interaction Research Group (https://stir.dsv.su.se/) and has been instrumental in the COST Action From Sharing to Caring: Examining Socio-Technical Aspects of the Collaborative Economy (http://sharingandcaring.eu/). Lampinen holds a PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Helsinki.