Networks are built atop platforms. A platform enables. It helps build value. If it is open and collaborative, those users may in turn add value to the platforms.
We have shifted from an economy based on scarcity to one based on abundance. The control of products or distribution will no longer guarantee a premium and a profit.
Facebook didn't translate its own Spanish and German versions: it created a platform for translation and handed the task to its users, who did the work for free.
The internet is a great big race to free. Anyone who has built a business model with a price above free for something that can be free is in a tough strategic position. So how do you get to free first?