What I Learned About Crowdfunding From Peruvian Chicken | Idea Lab | PBS

What I Learned About Crowdfunding From Peruvian Chicken | Idea Lab | PBS: Just like web-based crowdfunding, the pollada is a clever framing of the process of bringing people together to collaborate on a project. Just like a public crowdfunding campaign, the high level of mutual visibility at a pollada — we’re contributing (and partying) side by side with each other — is critical to its success. That mutual visibility breaks down “pluralistic ignorance”, the anxiety that we’re acting alone. It reinforces our sense of membership and produces the social benefits associated with belonging. One of the best explanations of these benefits is provided by Benkler and Nissenbaum’s work on commons-based peer production. Crowdfunding and the pollada most clearly convey what they call Cluster III benefits (benevolence, charity, generosity, altruism) and Cluster IV benefits (sociability, camaraderie, friendship, cooperation, civic virtue).