P2P: From File Sharing to Meta-information Pooling

P2P networks have mainly been used for downloading cultural goods. This sociological research focuses on the practices and norms of users and designers. Drawing on a qualitative survey, it explores the many ways sharing takes place. It looks at P2P networks as file sharing communities and probes the underpinnings of such file sharing. This article particularly scrutinizes the way in which users are brought together in communities founded on exploration and discovery. The latest developments seem to point towards a type of community chiefly based on exchanging meta-information.