Media itself has always been and continues to be a phenomenon in its own right. The hype surrounding all types of media is just incredible. One the one hand, careers in media are viewed as glamorous and are extremely desirable. On the other hand, the people who work within media are heavily scrutinized and media corporations are considered devious and untrustworthy. These two views completely contradict each other and yet they can both be accredited to the birth of produsage. Although it is acknowledged that people participate in produsage projects for a variety of reasons, Bruns (2008, 202 and 388) states that people choose to participate in produsage to solve a problem or to fulfill an interest. This can be seen in citizen journalism sites. These sites were initially established by people who had an interest in journalism and who felt they could solve a growing problem by providing others with a more detailed and reliable account of relevant news.
As mentioned by Bruns (2008, 387), produsage is heavily reliant on the technology that supports it, namely the internet. Accurately stated by Rupert Murdoch (n.d.), in regards to the internet “Someone the other day said, “It’s the biggest thing since Gutenberg,” and then someone else said “No, it’s the biggest thing since the invention of writing.” This is certainly true. Web 2.0 revolutionized the creation and distribution of information and has also had a huge impact on peoples’ attitudes, values and beliefs. It is arguable that Australia’s consumer culture no longer exists in the traditional sense. Although Australian’s continue to consume a high volume of products, the introduction on websites such as eBay has allowed people to resell their possessions creating an auction culture where people are now temporary owners of products engaged in the continuing process of buying and selling. In some cases, people have made a career out of simply buying and selling products through eBay (My eBay Success 2009) and through engaging in produsage in order to modify or create a new product out of existing products which can then be sold through eBay (Bruns 2008, 393). Effectively, this translates to what Bruns (2008, 393) identifies as a trial and error economy where people are willing to take more purchase risks because they are aware that they can just resell the product once it is no longer useful.
This trial and error economy is an interesting theory which would ideally have a positive impact upon the advertising industry simply due to the fact that the less risk there is associated with buying a product the more likely a consumer is to complete the purchase. However, despite the fact that produsage has, in a way, unveiled the mystery surrounding the production of media, the common perceptions people hold in regards to traditional media are still prominent. This means that although the risk of purchase maybe lowered, traditional advertising is still seen as untrustworthy. Word of mouth, unsurprisingly, and UGC such as blogs, reviews and recommendations are still seen as the most reliable and honest source of advertising (Nielsen 2007). The internet has recently become a huge platform for advertisers, however it is clear that advertisements, without being deceptive, will either need to mimic UGC or carefully integrate UGC, as Doritos are currently doing with their campaign, in order to establish a renewed sense of trust among consumers’.
References
Bruns, A. 2008. Blogs Wikipedia, Second Life and Beyond: From Production to Produsage. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
My eBay Success. 2009. The World’s Number 1 eBay Home Study Course. http://www.ebaysuccess4dummies.com/ (accessed May 22, 2009).
Nielsen. 2007. Trust in Advertising. http://au.nielsen.com/site/Trustinadvertising.shtml (accessed May 22, 2009).
Woopidoo. n.d. Rupert Murdoch Quotes. http://www.woopidoo.com/business_quotes/authors/rupert-murdoch-quotes.htm (accessed May 22, 2009).
By definition, an expert is a person who has special skills or knowledge in a particular field of personal interest, which then enables them to provide factual information and reliable, trustworthy opinions to rest of society. In stark contrast to this description, an amateur is a person who is generally considered inexperienced or unskilled in a particular field, therefore inhibiting their ability to properly execute a task or activity. Traditionally, experts held the leading opinion within society and up until recent years it hadn’t even been considered that the knowledge and opinions held by amateurs may be of value. However, due to the shift from an industrial model of production to a produser model of production, amateurs and indeed society as a whole are now encouraged to participate in the collaboration of knowledge in online spaces. Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, is a perfect example of such collaboration. A positive aspect of the produser model is that society is experiencing an increased civic engagement which can be directly attributed to the emergent participatory culture (Jenkins 2009). However, conversely the produser model has effectively caused both the prestige held by experts to diminish and the line which distinguishes experts from amateurs to blur. This, of course, has resulted in a clash of interests and beliefs.
In knowledge collaboration websites such as Wikipedia, heterarchies are established based on the merit one earns by contributing constructive and useful information. Experts who wish to contribute information are welcome but they are not simply handed a privileged role within the community, they must earn respect in the same way that other members are required to (Bruns 2008, 211). This provokes the question of what then, is the point of being an expert if your knowledge is regarded in the same manner as an amateurs? In response to this question Sanger (in Bruns 2008, 205) suggests that Citizendium, a model of knowledge production that relies on participation and collaboration but which also instantly provides experts with greater respect, should be established. This theory would perhaps be worth experimenting with if the editing and communal evaluation were to stay open to all citizens. However, Sanger goes to say that the Citizendium model will only recognize registered users with scholarly credentials and disciplinary expertise as full contributors to the project. This then would defeat the purpose of Wikipedia and of produsage itself.
Introduced by Bruns (2008), the concept of an expert continuum simply refers to the range of expertise people possess in particular fields. This range of expertise includes all people from academics to students, to enthusiasts, right down to the people who just have a general interest in the subject. This concept recognizes that all citizens have a valuable place in the production of knowledge. As stated by Pesce (2006), “one man’s trivia is another’s vital fact”. This is certainly an interesting observation and highlights the fact that each and every person has something unique and original to contribute to society. Of course there is a place for qualified experts especially when it comes to science subjects that present irrefutable, hard facts that cannot be disputed, however it remains to be seen whether these experts are able to co-exist in harmony with amateur produsers. Perhaps having two separate encyclopedias, one for scientific facts and the other for debatable, multi-perspective topics could be the solution to this problem.
References
Bruns, A. 2008. Blogs Wikipedia, Second Life and Beyond: From Production to Produsage. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
Bruns, A. 2008. Produsage: Folks and Experts. http://produsage.org/node/28 (accessed May 15, 2009).
Jenkins, H. 2009. Geeking Out for Democracy: Part One. http://www.henryjenkins.org/ (accessed May 15, 2009).
Pesce, M. 2006. Hyperpeople: What Happens After We’re All Connected? 2. http://blog.futurestreetconsulting.com/?p=17 (accessed May 15, 2009).
The Ultimate Encyclopedia – Written by Citizens for Citizens But Rejected by Educational Institutions
May 12, 2009
As with the introduction of the printing press, television and the internet, some members of society have once again worked themselves into a tether over the introduction of web 2.0 and social software phenomenon it has brought about. One of the main areas of current concern is the globally recognized website, Wikipedia. Famous for using the new produsage model which favors a continuing process of production, recognition of produsage as common property, open participation, communal evaluation and heterarchical governance, Wikipedia has been named as the most successful online encyclopedia. Unlike traditional encyclopedias which endeavor to present the current state of accepted knowledge, Wikipedia presents current representations of knowledge based on the perspectives of contributors (Bruns 2008, 114). However, this does not mean that contributors are able to publish anything they want. Wikipedia content must adhere to three principles. These principles state that the author must have a neutral point of view, the article must be verifiable and no original, unpublished research may be used (Bruns 2008, 113). Wikipedia content is further governed by both dedicated Wikipedians who monitor the contributions of other users and by automated watch-bots which are designed to revert disruptive changes and are placed on pages that suffer from constant vandalism.
When compared to traditional encyclopedias, a defining characteristic of Wikipedia is the inclusion of a very broad range of topics. Due to vast array of contributors who volunteer their knowledge in order to enhance Wikipedia, the website is simply able to produce large amounts of information on various subjects as oppose to traditional encyclopedias that are written by paid experts. As expressed by a Wikipedia user, the ability to search Wikipedia for information concerning unusual or non-traditional topics is extremely convenient (Macaulay 2006) and is a feature that traditional encyclopedias do not have. Therefore, due to its extensive, ever-changing and ever-growing database, Wikipedia could actually be considered as the encyclopedia of everything, society’s ultimate encyclopedia.
However, there are still many concerns about Wikipedia which cannot be dismissed. As mentioned above Wikipedia presents only representations of knowledge that must be verifiable, but not strictly truthful (Wikipedia 2009). Although the quality of an article undergoes communal evaluation and is increased over time, the potential for people to cite unreliable sources and therefore publish unreliable information is quite high. Often, education professionals are seen to fear Wikipedia as it is an unknown quantity and is not considered to have the same authority as traditional encyclopedias (Bruns 2008, 131). As a result students are told not to use Wikipedia and to instead search for more reliable sources. It is certainly interesting to note that although society has entered the new media age, educational institutions, particularly schools, are still reluctant to encourage students to use new media let alone teach the skills required to use it. In one of his articles, Henry Jenkins (2007) suggests that students should in fact be taught not only about new media, but also to actually contribute to new media and to the produsage environment. By including new media in the school curriculum students will learn skills that will be of great necessity when they enter the workforce. It is time for educational institutions to stop lingering on tradition and to educate students on what is current and what will ultimately have an impact on their career.
References
Bruns, A. 2008. Blogs Wikipedia, Second Life and Beyond: From Production to Produsage. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
Jenkins, H. 2007. What Wikipedia can teach us About the New Media Literacies. http://www.henryjenkins.org/2007/06/what_wikipedia_can_teach_us_ab_1.html (accessed May 8, 2009).
Macaulay, J. 2006. Wikipedia and How it Reflects our Changing Culture. http://scruffynerf.wordpress.com/2006/08/08/wikipedia-how-it-reflects-our-changing-culture/ (accessed May 8, 2009).
Wikipedia: Verifiability. 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability (accessed May 8, 2009).
Citizen Journalism – A Process Not a Product
May 6, 2009
By definition, journalism is the process of finding information that is either new or interesting and organizing the details into an objective report which is then distributed through mass media channels. Traditionally, journalism was carried out solely by professional journalists and was disseminated through one-to-many media technologies such as television, radio and newspapers. Journalism is often considered the “fourth” estate of society, designed to expose the inner dealings of the first three estates, government, courts and clergy, in an attempt to keep society’s leaders honest and the public informed (The News Manual, 2008). As mentioned by Flew (12008, 52), journalists were often idolized by citizens and regarded as heroes within the public sphere. This perception that “journalists are heroes” was especially evident during the Watergate scandal. However, as media organizations have become more commercially driven, citizens have become increasingly disappointed with the reliability and quality of contemporary journalism sparking the need for citizen journalism.
With the advent of the internet, news and information sources have moved to an online space where consumers are able to access the information and seek further confirmation of details instead of relying on the packaged “product” (Bruns 2008, 73) they receive from journalists. As with many other industries, the introduction of web 2.0 has caused the journalism profession to enter a modern day renaissance whereby the constructs of the industry are currently undergoing a major reformulation. This reformulation is centered around the phenomenon that is citizen journalism. Enabled by the read-write properties of web 2.0, citizen journalism relies on the collective intelligence of active participants and is the process of finding and publishing information on specific topic. The information published will then undergo a communal evaluation, the reliable information will be filtered from the unreliable, additional information will be added and then the article will be republished. This process will then continue to be repeated in a never-ending cycle (Bruns 2008, 74). Unlike commercial journalism which presents a finished product that is commercially viable with condensed information and only one perspective, citizen journalism presents a process (Foster in Bruns 2008, 81) of information gathering that is rich in knowledge, displays multiple perspectives and is never completely finished or perfect. Examples of citizen journalism can be found on websites such as OhMyNews, Indymedia, Kuro5hin and Slashdot.
Although citizen journalism was originally triggered as a response to the falling standards in commercial journalism, the quality of content produced by citizen journalism sites is such that it is beginning to fill the role of a second-tier of journalism (Gans in Bruns 2008, 86). Not only does this mean that lines between professional journalism and amateur journalism are beginning to blur, but it also suggests that citizen journalism is like a watchdog function for commercial journalism, or perhaps even the fifth estate. Citizen journalism has proven itself useful to the mainstream media on numerous occasions when professional journalists could not provide immediate coverage of events such as September 11, the 2004 tsunami, the 2005 London bombings and even the recent US presidential election. Although there are still several issues to do with information validity, copyright and access, citizen journalism ultimately facilitates democracy and the opening of the public sphere. The journalism industry needs to accept and incorporate into their business model the fact that consumers were only ever passive because technology rendered them so and that in this day and age citizens actually want to be active participants within society.
References
Bruns, A. 2008. Blogs Wikipedia, Second Life and Beyond: From Production to Produsage. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
Flew, T. 2008. New Media: an introduction. 3rd ed. Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press.
The News Manual. 2008. What is a Journalist?. http://www.thenewsmanual.net/Manuals%20Volume%201/volume1_02.htm (accessed May 1, 2009).
New Media, New Economy, New Production Models – Produsage in Advertising and Brand Building
April 29, 2009
According to Terry Flew (2008, 2) the term, “new media”, refers to the convergence of computing, communications and digitized creative content which can then be made openly accessible through wireless networks. As the world becomes increasingly globalised and as conventional communities become extensive virtual communities, who are unrestricted in their time zones or geographical location and thrive off collective intelligence and open participation, it becomes obvious that the power yielded by these new media technologies has only just begun to be discovered. The introduction of new media seems to have had a significant impact on the process of commercial production, causing society to enter what John Hartley (2005, 19), Richard Florida (2005, 133) and Terry Flew (2005, 344) refer to as the new “creative” economy. The new creative economy values open source participation, collective intelligence and non-hierarchical many-to-many media platforms which facilitate community-based intercreativity (Bruns 2008, 17).
In his book Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life and Beyond, Axel Bruns discusses the evolution from the industrial model of production to the newly identified produser model. Bruns goes on to explain that the new produser model encourages participation and collaboration in the production of ideas which breaks down the boundaries between producers and consumers and allows participants to be both users and producers of content. As stated by Florida (2005, 143), humans cannot create out of nothing which means that creativity is essentially a process of synthesis, where content is reorganized, built upon and republished. In his book, Bruns coins this process as “produsage”. Produsage is inherently defined by open participation, communal evaluation, ad hoc meritocracy, collective intelligence and continuous cycle of reproduction. Wikipedia and Youtube are both perfect examples of produsage. Both sites allow for open participation and collective intelligence, both encourage communal evaluation, both are driven by a meritocracy where a contributor becomes successful based on their own merit as oppose to their placement on an established hierarchy and the content embedded in both sites is continually being reproduced.
The benefits of new media technologies and the emergence of produsage has already had a profound impact on every industry around the globe. The advertising industry has needed to adapt to the new production model and, to an extent, incorporate produser content into advertising design and construction. In his book, Bruns mentions the concept of “prosumers”, professional consumers who provide feedback to producers. This feedback is vital information for both the producer and the advertiser as it provides a deeper insight into the wants and needs of the target audience which ultimately shapes the content of the ads making them more successful at building a relationship between the producer and consumer. In some cases, such as the Diet Coke and Mentos phenonomon, large corporations have embraced the content created by produsers and used it to help build the producer consumer relationship. Coke responded to the Diet Coke and Mentos Youtube video effectively by relaunching their website with a feature that regularly poses challenges to consumers and encourages them to upload their own video responses. However, in some cases, such as the recent Dominos Youtube video, produser created content can be seriously damaging to the corporations producer consumer relationship. Obviously, this produser model has added a new layer of complexity to advertising and brand building and the industry is only just beginning to realize the potential opportunities and threats posed by the new economy.
References
Bruns, A. 2008. Blogs Wikipedia, Second Life and Beyond: From Production to Produsage. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
Flew, T. Creative Economy. In Creative Industries, ed. J. Hartley, 344-360. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Flew, T. 2008. New Media: an introduction. 3rd ed. Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press.
Florida, R. 2005. The Experiential Life. In Creative Industries, ed. J. Hartley, 133-146. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Hartley, J. 2005. Creative Industries. In Creative Industries, ed. J. Hartley, 1-40. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
