Arguably audiences with a more active role in content production have more social and cultural power in relationships between producers and consumers. Interactive audiences are now further blurring the boundaries between content producers and consumers. Consumers of media in new mobile and interactive environments now increasingly create, produce and share content themselves (such as bookmarking, tagging, blogging and Wikis). The changing relationships, between producers and audiences, consist of entities such as prosumers, co-creators and do-it-yourself (DIY) cultures encouraging user-generated content (Banks 2008). In contrast, traditional hierarchical relationships consisted of entities such as corporation, producer, audience and consumer. This hierarchy seemingly took away much of the democratic power and voice of contemporary culture. Henry Jenkins uses fan based content production to demonstrate the lack of democracy within traditional relationships. He claims:
“[fans] lack direct access to the means of commercial cultural production and have only the most limited resources with which to influence entertainment industry’s decision. Fans must beg with the networks to keep their favourite show on the air, must lobby producers to proved desired plot developments or to protect the integrity of favourite characters. (1992, 27)
However, now democratic power is being restored somewhat with the use of new media technologies (such as open source software and the internet) to form niche online communities or subcultures. Jenkins (2002, 158) defines online communities as “expansive self-organising groups focused around the collective production, debate and circulation of meanings, interpretations and fantasies in response to various artefacts of contemporary popular culture.” These online communities focus on networking relationships, pooling resources and working collaboratively on a virtual online space. Audiences can now interact with each other and the media they consume without being limited by geography, demographic, identity and social order.
Contemporary culture consumers, who utilise open source software for user-led creation, now have a greater sense of achievement and belonging within online communities. According to Will Wright (an American computer game designer and co-founder of the game development company, Maxis), “when somebody makes a piece of content, they are so much more emotionally attached to it. It doesn’t even matter if it’s good or bad. If they made it, it’s really cool, and they’re totally interested in what happens to it” (Banks 2008). Therefore, online communities of co-creators and consumer content producers may feel as if they are successfully restoring the balance of democratic cultural power and that they have an influence over the media they consume.
However, the notion that audiences now have more social and cultural power over media organisations is questionable. For example shows like Big Brother, which are popular within contemporary culture, supposedly gives audiences control and cultural power to determine the outcomes within the show and yet voting results are not accurately released. Why are controversial characters that are overwhelmingly nominated and hated within ‘the house’, remaining on the show for as long as they do? Social learning and judgement suggests that society would have the same opinion as ‘housemates’. Why is the community not using its cultural power to influence the outcomes of Big Brother? Is it because cultural power is merely a perception and that media organisations realise that controversy feeds an interest in social groups and keeps audiences involved for longer?
References
Banks, J. 2008. The active audience: User-led Co-creation & the re-negotiation of media power. Queensland University of Technology, KCB301. http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/courses/1/KCB301_08se1/content/_1500890_1/KCB301%20Week%201%202008%20internet%20version.ppt?bsession=10472029&bsession_str=session_id=10472029,user_id_pk1=68541,user_id_sos_id_pk2=1,one_time_token=
Jenkins, H. 1992. Textual poachers: television fans & participatory culture. New York: Routledge.
Jenkins, H. 2002. Interactive Audiences. In The New Media Book, ed. D. Harries. 155-170. London: BFI
1 comment:
Jonesy, your post regarding active audiences and the cultural power produsers hold through their interactions with Web 2.0 based applications is thorough and insightful. You have covered viewpoints which involve digital television and interactive gaming which are industries which have both adapted to the produsage phenomenon also supported through endless online portals such as blogs and wikis.
Specifically I would like to comment on your argument that consumers “now have a greater sense of achievement and belonging within online communities”. This statement provides one of the basic emotional groundings and attachments which produsers need to have with a media format before they can become a regular part of its surrounding ‘community’. Jason Wilson, a research associate on citizen journalism spoke at length about fostering the produser relationship within a community in his lecture Citizen Journalism: It’s Role in the Media Environment presented at QUT – 8 May 2008.
I believe that it is this relationship between content creators and their community which are integral to the success of that format, be it a wiki or a blog. Wilson (2008) discussed the importance of a two-way relationship, as new and existing participants bring what is termed as ‘oxygen’ to that communication channel. One of the most pertinent points of his lecture was his emphasis on cultivating ‘super-contributors’. Given statistics that prove that 1% of produsers make up the back-bone of the community, a site can rely heavily on the voluntaristic commitment of this small group of people making constant additions to the community’s dialogue. By fostering this relationship through personal emails and supporting posts, moderators of sites target these ‘super-contributors’ to ensure their treatment spurs a sense of ownership within the produser, lengthening and enhancing the relationship they have with the community.
This is another way in which audience involvement is fostered ‘behind-the-scenes’, as moderators act as key relationship builders, ensuring produsers who are considered ‘super-contributers’ feel a sense of ownership of their work and integral belonging within an online community.
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