When GoFundMe Gets Ugly

Sat, 19 Oct 2019 06:35:50 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/11/gofundme-nation/598369/>

"Part of the allure of GoFundMe is that it’s a meritocratic way to
allocate resources—the wisdom of the crowd can identify and reward those
who most need help. But researchers analyzing medical crowdfunding have
concluded that one of the major factors in a campaign’s success is who
you are—and who you know. Which sounds a lot like getting into Yale.
Most donor pools are made up of friends, family, and acquaintances,
giving an advantage to relatively affluent people with large,
well-resourced networks. A recent Canadian study found that people
crowdfunding for health reasons tend to live in high-income,
high-education, and high-homeownership zip codes, as opposed to areas
with greater need. As a result, the authors wrote, medical crowdfunding
can “entrench or exacerbate socioeconomic inequality.”"

Via Jennifer Freeman, who wrote "Surprise. Not."

Cheers,
        *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net                   Andrew Pam
http://www.xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
http://www.glasswings.com.au/             Partner, Glass Wings
http://www.sericyb.com.au/                Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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