Kevin Anderson on why people participate in online communities and share content on them:

I can tell you why I bother. A global culture of participation has been, for me, key in meeting one of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: Belonging. Originally participatory culture was something I did in my spare time because their was no place for it in my professional work, but co-creation in journalism has been one of the most richly rewarding aspects of my career.charman-anderson.com, Generosity and post-scarcity economic media models: Why I love participatory culture, Jan 2010

Lots to think about in that post, especially about the way traditional media people, who have a different attitude to creation and sharing than most people, misunderstand motivations for participation. More myopia?