Lessons From the End of the Free Starbucks Card Experiment
►http://www.good.is/post/lessons-from-the-end-of-the-free-for-all-starbucks-card-experiment
Starbucks has put an end to a the Jonathan’s Card free coffee bonanza, citing concerns about fraud. As we reported last week, mobile app developer Jonathan Stark accidentally kicked off a massive experiment in collective consumption and mobile currency when he made his Starbucks card available for anyone to use or fund. Stark’s project may be over, but it’s inspired the community he created to carry on its legacy through new communal cards and other good deeds.
“This proved that people are generally good,” Stark tells GOOD. “Way more people involved, from a person by person basis, did the right thing."
The card was open to the public for about a month before it became a national news story early last week. Then, over the course of a hectic several days, more than 500 coffee drinkers added (and spent) over $8,000 to the card. The experiment delighted thousands of people who saw it as anything from a cool game to a validation of humans’ intrinsic generosity.
Get a coffee, give a coffee
►http://jonathanstark.com/card