Margit’s Note: Sharing is Caring

By Margit Detweiler

“Sharing is caring!”

My college dorm neighbor used to say that all the time — usually with the goal of bumming a cigarette from my roommate. (Or a funny cigarette.)

These days, we live in a world where “sharing” has taken on new meaning; tinged with concerns of privacy or projects for a collective benefit. On a daily, if not minute by minute basis, we share our favorite news stories, baby photos, cat videos, and bizarrely niche Buzzfeed quizzes (“Which Willy Wonka Character Are You?” — I am Violet Beauregarde, obvs.) But we’re also sharing resources to get a great deal — our cars, our clothes and our homes as hotels.

As we share, are we communicating more effectively? Being good to our fellow humans? That’s the question this week as we tackle stories of sharing — and oversharing.

• Jody Jones asks when sharing becomes TMI
• I investigate the world of the sharing economy via Gwynnie Bee
• Katharine English learns to share with her husband — and tells you how you can too!
• Rebecca Fernandez offers the art of constructive criticism (and not sharing your hate)
• Amy Vernon shows us how to share smartly — and ethically — in social media
• Amy Barr tells how she learned to share more of herself as a writer
• And Piers Marchant gives us 4 very giving films — and one stingy bastard

Don’t bogart that joint.

Love,

Margit

p.s. Help TueNight “Make The Stage” at Internet Week New York. Vote for one (or both!) of our two panels: 

1. Generation Yes: Can You Make Age Your Calling Card?

2. Finding Your Voice in a Brand-New “40-Something” Digital World