I attended a really fascinating and inspiring talk today by the speaker, author and social innovator Rachel Botsman.

Rachel is an Oxford and Harvard graduate, who has a proven track record as a social innovator who writes, consults, and speaks on the power of collaboration and sharing through network technologies, and on how it will transform business, consumerism and the way we live. Rachel has achieved so much in her young life (… in my humble opinion)!!

The theme of Rachel’s talk was “Collaborative Consumption – The Big Society gets Real” ………

Rachel’s talk really struck a chord with me because she very eloquently explained that collaborative consumption is all about using networking technologies (such as social media platforms) to actually connect people to create thriving, collaborative, trusting communities. In simple terms, it’s all about using the internet to enable people to get off the internet (!) ……  to meet up in person, build trust and friendships and ultimately to share and do business together if people desire to do so.

Rachel explained that there were broadly 3 types of collaborative consumption:

  • 1. Idling Capacity: This is where people may have resources that they may not use to their fullest capacity, that could be used by other people to earn an income for the resource owner. Rachel quoted numerous examples, including www.your parkingspace.co.uk – which enables people to rent, and earn an income from, a spare car parking space at their home. A vicar in Islington was able to earn £70k for his parish in 18 months by renting 6 parking spaces at his local church!!
  • 2. Collaborative lifestyles: Involves using networking technologies to support peoples’ lifestyles and to help people connect with their peers and strangers to build friendships and communites. Rachel provided loads of examples; one that stuck in my mind was www.somewhereto.com which enables people of all ages (particularly young people) to find spaces & locations where they are able do what they love to do, from performing arts to being able to meet up with other youngsters for a game of football in a safe environment.
  • 3. Redistribution Markets: These markets enable people to have an opportunity to “sell to earn”, swap goods and services and to provide “gifted services” where you simply give stuff away for free that you no longer need. Classic examples in this area are eBay and The Freecycle Network. Redistribution market services make it possible to stretch the lifecycle of products and reduce waste thereby performing a great service for the local community and society in general.

Rachel wrapped up the talk by saying that she believed we were on the cusp of a technological, social and cultural revolution . The 20th century was about hyper consumption (Big car, big house … big debt) whereas she saw the 21st centrury as being about collaborative consumption (connecting with people, making friends, building trust and exchanging goods and services that meet people’s needs). A world where we use networking and social technologies to actually meet people and build communities based on trust and sharing.

I sincerely hope Rachel’s vision comes to fruition and that I may able to contribute in some small way by showing people and businesses how to use social media platforms to engage with people, build trust and ultimately earn an income from delivering goods and services that meet people’s needs.

If you would like to find out how I can help you to use social media effectively for you and your business; please feel free to give me a call; I’m Tim McSweeney and you can contact me on 07759 874177.

If you want to find out more about the inspiring Rachel Botsman and Collaborative Consumption – check out Rachel’s web-site at:

www.rachelbotsman.com