I also suspect that it can play an important role in something Doc Searl (author of Cluetrain Manifesto) calls VRM (Vendor Relationship Management) putting the USER rather than the platform or vendor at the center of that relationship.
Personally I believe this structure embodies a ‘theory of mind’ for the Commons in what has become an all too often adversarial relationship with exploitative sub-groups within it.
It brings some powerful forces ‘back from lunch’… and suggests to them that a new relationship is now in place.
Issues in Scaling Civlization: The Monsters-from-the-Id Dilemma
http://culturalengineer.blogspot.com/2012/06/issues-in-scaling-civlization-monsters.html