In JR Ridinger’s How Does Social Media Reflect Our Globalized Culture?, he discusses how the internet provides

the power of connecting with the right people (people who are interested in what you are offering or exposing…

The culture connects and functions using the internet. You cannot reach this culture without using the internet. GamesTZ contains searches, matching (refer to word index for definition), profile pages, Forums and chats designed to facilitate communication between the members. They connect through an exchange of goods.  It’s a collaborative work because through these ways of communications members pass on vital information; for example, who to trade from and from whom you shouldn’t.

Making connections through bartering. Source: flikr

Online bartering compared to shopping creates connections. When shopping, you buy from a company or, like Amazon or ebay, buy from people selling at lesser price; however, no real connections are made. A person buys and no real relation is made. Online bartering, like GameTZ creates connections.  In GameTZ, a trade takes time, searching what member has what you want or need and then bargaining with them. There has to be some sort of verbal contact in order for the trade to take place. Members start trading and bargaining with the same members eventually creating relations. Also the profiles provided helping in creating these relations. According to Barter News by publisher Bob Meyer, there are some 450,000 companies doing business through bartering’s 400-plus networks of services, retailers and manufacturers. A trader is constantly meeting people to trade. It’s like a flee market; eventually you start going back to the same people because you made a good trade with them and perhaps even become good friends with them.