Gwen, there was an enjoyable article in the Sunday Times magazine last weekend (paywall).
So, with a deep and possibly gullible breath, I decided to see how much I could earn in a fortnight.
There is a strange array of platforms, from dog-walking to meal-cooking services ... Some, such as BlaBlaCars, a modern hitchhiking service, just aren’t suitable for a father of four.
I am ruled out of Uber, because they don’t accept my model of car. This is a relief, because I am a terrible driver. I also discount Airbnb, because I’m not uprooting the wife and four children from the family home.
But there are a few possibilities that I think I can combine with a day job writing from home. I sign up to Stashbee, “a community marketplace for storage”, making my spare room – or rather the space between the end of the bed and the wardrobe – available for people to store boxes.
The sitting room is uploaded onto Vrumi, which offers alternative meeting rooms for those who think the local coffee shop is too noisy. Nimber, a “social delivery service”, is also added to my list. Apparently, I could earn as much as £25 for taking a document just a mile or two.
The kitchen and my cooking skills are press-ganged into VizEat, a service where you host a dinner party for complete strangers. “Welcome people at your table. And live unique moments!” is its strapline.
I’m soon discovering that the sharing economy is aimed squarely at the generation who grew up uploading their entire lives online.
As well as hosting a box of someone's Christmas decorations in his spare room, he has people holding meetings & a photo shoot in his living room and a couple come round for dinner. He Deliveroos on his bike. It sounds like an entertaining nightmare actually, but all the people were decent.
Most people are, you know - decent. Thank goodness :)