The consumer has changed in recent years. No longer are we a passive audience which sits back and watches television or simply surfs the internet (Livingstone, 2008). We have a need to engage, be it with a person thousands of miles away through the use of instant messenger or someone right in front of us. Media and the way we use it is reflecting this need for interaction.
For example look at television. Google any television show being broadcasted right now and most of the time you will be staring at thousands of websites with the show as a topic. There are sites ranging from the official page to fan sites to forums and even fiction involving the characters of the show. This type of interaction would have been inconceivable before the internet.
This ability to interact through technology has established online communities which share interests such as a favourite television show or computer game. These communities allow people to collaborate (Flew, 2005). Fans in communities can share ideas and ultimately create.
Consumers are no longer just consumers. In the 21st century, consumers can produce content and share it around the world by using online communities. This concept of the consumer being the producer has been termed ‘Produsage’ by Axel Bruns (2008).
Bruns' (2008) definition of the term is “the collaborative and continuous building and extending of existing content in pursuit of further improvement”. The internet has enabled this concept to flourish to the point where user created content is actually being incorporated into mainstream corporate games (Banks, 2002).
Produsage is also very social. In order for this concept to work consumers need to connected, networked through communities and societies offline but especially online (Flew, 2005). The concept is to build upon what has already been created. Networks of fans and creators are needed so that the content can be circulated and distributed through many channels and each consumer can tweak it to fit their specifications. What comes out in the end is exactly what a group collectively wants - the ultimate consumer product which every company dreams of having.
Produsage, when used correctly by companies is an enormous success. They are giving what the customer wants by letting them help create a product they want to use. But then this raises the question about intellectual property. Who owns this material and are these consumers informed about what’s happening with their content and their ideas? Should produsers be reimbursed for their contribution? All these questions are valid. What the answers are only time will tell. Although, there is no denying that produsage is thriving in the new economy.
Banks, J. (2002) "Gamers as Co-Creators: Enlisting the Virtual Audience - A Report From the Net Face," in M. Balnaves, T. O'Regan and J. Sternberg (eds) Mobilising the Audience.
Bruns, A. (2008) Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and Beyond: From Production to Produsage.
Livingstone, S. 2008. Media Audiences, Interpreters and Users. In KCB301 book of readings.
Flew, T. (2005). New media: an introduction.
5 comments:
We found this insightful and blogged about it a bit today at http://www.thingmatch.com/Info/FoundersBlog/tabid/361/Default.aspx
The concept of the "produser" has been developed over the last few years to describe the increasing trend of users who are now also producing content. Trendwatching.com describes them as Generation C, with C standing for Content creation.
Your example of television probably only just skims the surface of the avalanche of content creation. If you Google any television show you will not only find thousands of websites with the show as a topic, but you'll also find several online communities allowing you the ability to download that TV show then and there, with various collaborative forums and blogs about the show. This interaction is leading to a shift in the way audiences are using media. Users can choose when they watch TV shows, which undermines the traditional, mainstream broadcasting of TV. Do you think this has led to the empowerment of the audience? I believe the audience is now more in control of what they consume then ever before.
This post on consumers and producers has led me to think of the way the internet has changed the interaction aspect of computer games. With several role playing games you can develop a character in terms of what they look like, the conversations they make with other people and what skills they acquire. Yet these options are limited as you can only choose from a number of character features, conversation starters and your character can only develop as far as the game will allow.
Suddenly, add online interaction and conversation with other online players is limitless. Yet the conversation is only a part of online games though it is still in a way producing the experience of the game and therefore an example of produsage. However, the produsage term could be applied to many other aspects of the internet and digital communication. Mobile phones are completely customisable and may be a simple example of how the interaction process allows for a combination of creation and consumption. I would have to agree with adaws that produsage is simply audience empowerment as users are able to create their own experiences.
There are two points that I found particularly interesting in your post on consumers and producers and in the comments left by adaws and trina. The first of these is whether produsage has empowered audiences. Of course it has! The shift in the role of audiences has not only given them greater social power, but also cultural power over what they consume. Trina gave a really good example with the nature of online gaming. This has developed even further as producers are now directly involving their customers in the process of developing and evolving products. The computer game ‘The Sims’ is a really good example of this and John Banks does quite an in-depth study of this in his article ‘Gamers as Co-creators: Enlisting the Virtual Audience – A Report From the Net Face’ (2002).
In terms of social power, MySpace and You Tube have had a revolutionary effect. Thanks to these sites, it is so much easier to make an impact on the commercial mainstream.
The second issue I found particularly interesting is the question of intellectual property. I think there is still a lot of power vested in media ownership. Despite the new media environment lending itself towards a less hierarchical structure, a lot of producers worry about a loss of control over their intellectual property.
For more on the points I’ve just discussed, see my post on ‘Power to the Audience’.
I also explored this shift between consumers and producers (or produsers) and I agree with your points.
Particularly the one about intellectual property, I didn’t really touch on this in my blog but I agree that it is a very valid point when looking at blogging and chatting. Where is the line drawn between creative sharing and ownership?
Annelise's comment also explores my second main interest in your blog, whether produsage has empowered audiences. I agree to argue it hasn’t would be naïve, the role of an audience has been completely redefined, in even the literal sense of definition.
The cambrige dictionary defines ‘audience’ as “a group of people gathered in one place to watch or listen” – how our roles have changed!
This shift has given ‘audiences’ or 'consumer’s' power, power to control what they consume.
MySpace and YouTube are two of hundreds of websites that have had this effect and shifted the power. Customers can now achieve exactly what they want because they create their own products.
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