Business Models

"What holds for governance also pertains to business models: they are mediators in the engineering of culture and everyday life," (Djick 39). Venmo is a peer-to-peer business model. Peer-to-peer is defined as "a decentralized model whereby two individuals interact to buy or sell goods directly with each other without intermediation by a third-party, or without the use of a company of business." (Investopedia). Venmo generates its business from this model in which the users of the app bring in more users by word of mouth and using the app when they go out and share the bill with their friends. Van Djick mentions in his chapter that with the rise of social media platforms, advertising for the use of these platforms, Venmo included, has changed. Before advertising and business was generated through the purchasing of tangible goods and services. Now with social media platforms business can be conducted virtually as is shown through Venmo which eliminates the hassle of having to find and ATM for cash or gather up spare change in order to pay your share of the bill. Venmo as a social media app has changed the way people spend their money when socializing out with friends. They are being social while at the same time being connected virtually through the app.

Sources:

Van Djick, Jose. "Chapter 2: Disassembling Platforms, Reassembling Sociality," The Culture of Connectivity: A Critical History of Social Media, Oxford, NY, New York, 2013.

Definition of Peer-to-peer taken from Investopedia.com Accessed February 20, 2017. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/peertopeer-p2p-economy.asp