From DIY Design to Production

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve discussed some pros and cons of produsage and explained some different concepts about new media and how these concepts are being applied today. Produsage and technologies such as the internet are allowing us to share our innovations with the wider community. “Produsage critically relies on those technologies which can be said to have hypercharged information in recent decades, by making it accessible, shareable, networkable, remixable, and extensible: interactive, intercreative, participatory digital networking systems” (Bruns 2008, 387).

From this arises a very crucial question. Is produsage limited to being online? After reading Axel Bruns’ book “Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, And Beyond: From Production To Produsage” I can see that it is not. Bruns includes some examples of how produsage could be used in the physical world also. One of the examples Bruns’ mentions of using produsage in an industrial process is the production of cars. By using the idea that physical products are information products during the design stage, it is true that produsage could be embraced by allowing users of cars to send in designs. This would be an ideal way to get features in a car that the public think are necessary. Although time would need to be taken to assess these designs and changes would need to be made to make sure they would work and be safe, this still shows that produsage could work in industrial processes and not just with the creation of online information.

Another interesting example of produsage in a physical process that Bruns mentioned was online kite surfing communities using new media concepts to improve designs of the kites. Kite surfers could have an online website where they discuss and add ideas on how to improve the kites that are being made. This website could then make these products on demand. It is still using the internet for this level of interaction but this is not necessary. Members could go to the shop to give designs and comments, however by using the internet it allows more opportunities for interaction.

Although it is clear that produsage may be useful in production of physical objects such as cars, it is also easy to see that with the help of the internet these processes are much easier and more effective. For example, if a design for a car by a consumer is submitted online, being able to download this image means others can make changes without completely redrawing the images. This means users can collectively add to these information products before they reach the physical stage. Therefore saving time and money.

At the present time there few limits to produsage. We can see that produsage can be used to improve and make physical products but that this idea is improved with the use of internet and networking.

Bruns, A. 2008. Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, And Beyond: From Production To Produsage. New York: Peter Lang.

Professionals vs Amateurs

Pro-am is a term used to describe the blurring of the lines between amateurs and professionals which is seen more distinctly with our generation of digitally enabled media produsers. As a general term pro-am does not just describe this process in relation to the media but also in sports, music or film. All over the world amateurs are attempting what only once was attempted by producers.

A great example of this is citizen journalism which I talked about in a previous blog. This is where members of the public collect, photograph and disseminate news and information. It may be a picture they took of an accident on the way to work, or it may be a story they write on a issue of interest to them. Citizen journalism has advantages and disadvantages to it, as does all blurring between amateurs and professionals.

Let us look at it from the professional’s point of view. Professionals are called this as they have either studied or practiced at what they do for a long time. They may have gone to university to get a degree in their field, or if it is sport they may have paid for lots of lessons and trained for years. In their view, what right do amateurs have to pursue these activities as a career? I’m studying nutrition and media and communication, so I aim to be a nutritionist but I’d like to write nutrition related articles in magazines. With this degree I think I would have this right. If an amateur with no degree wrote in to this magazine with nutrition articles and they were published instead, I think I would feel cheated. However, does this mean amateurs don’t have the right to publish their material?

What does experience count for? Or in regards to the media, does being at the event give you the right to disseminate information on the event? Basically it is up to the news station to chose. The New York Times makes good use of citizen journalists. They recently asked amateurs to send in pictures that represent the recession and published these in their paper. In event like these, everyday people that are experiencing the recession first hand may have more right to disseminate information on the event than journalists that may have not yet felt the effects. Also in events like terrorism attacks, victims that were there may have more right to write an article about what happened than a journalist who wasn’t at the scene.

Many news stations chose not to use amateur work as it can create problems if the material is fake, as well as most work sent in needs lots of editing to make it appear professional. For example, when News Limited Papers published a fake photo of Pauline Hanson naked this caused many problems for them. The Sunday Telegraph had to apologize to her and they created a bad image of themselves to the public. There is an article about it here. But if news station automatically rejects amateur work, doesn’t this leave the community at a disadvantage?

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is an online encyclopaedia that has been written collaboratively by people all around the world.  It is one example of produsage that was explained in one of my previous blogs.  Basically anyone can contribute to Wikipedia pages, whether they are qualified or not. It gives people the opportunity to learn from other’s knowledge and add their own information to pages that may be lacking.

Wikipedia has been a great online resource for students as it is an easy source to find when wanting a quick understanding of a subject or idea. It is also a good starting point when beginning an assignment to get a brief understanding and then follow the references the writer has used. It is always necessary to follow the references to establish the credibility of the page.

This is one negative to using Wikipedia. Although it is meant to be a page when or can look up information fast, because it can be contributed to by anyone it is necessary to follow all the links provided to be sure the information you are reading is correct. Having to do this takes away the original idea of being able to access basic information fast. This is still fine if it is not information you are going to refer to academically but when it comes to writing assignments for school or university then following the reference links are the only way to establish credibility of the information given.

Another disadvantage of using Wikipedia for research is that information is not allowed to be from a primary source. This means if there is an event and someone is there in the situation, they are not allowed to write about their first hand experience. The information is allowed to be included if it has first been quoted in a newspaper but cannot be straight from the primary source.  This means so much first hand information that could be useful to the public is withheld from them.

Wikipedia also has many advantages for the public. It gives people the opportunity to write and research something of interest to them that can be read all over the world. It’s free for everyone to access, which makes it a great resource for general information. Another advantage of Wikipedia is the amount of pages that there is information on. Anything from the Mona Lisa to pumpkin pie.

Wikipedia is a great example of collective intelligence, which was discussed in my previous blog. The theory of collective intelligence means anyone contributing to knowledge also learns from other people’s information. This means that our knowledge and understanding is constantly growing.  We are given more opportunities than ever before to expand our understanding.

So my take on Wikipedia is that it has its pros and cons, but if we exercise a little precaution it is a very useful resource.

Citizen journalism – Best job in the world?

There’s been much discussion over what citizen journalism really is. If you type the words into google it will come up with about 3,550,000 results in 0.19 seconds. But to me a citizen journalist isn’t just one describable job, but many. It not only entails being a writer but also a photographer, an editor and a publisher.

Bowman and Willis describe it as “the concept of members of the public playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analysing and distributing news and information”. What I think is the latest and greatest example of citizen journalism is currently known as “the best job in the world.” The job entails some minor caretaking of the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef but the main focus is to let the world know what is taking place there. Basically, it’s citizen journalism.

The successful applicant will be asked to write blogs and stories of their life on the Great Barrier Reef as well as take photos and videos to document the good times. They are now down the final 16 applicants and the Island caretaker will be announced in 5 hours!

To have a look at the website click here.

None of the applicants have any journalism experience, but will be expected to document their lives and experiences for 6 months while they live on the Great Barrier Reef. Being a citizen journalist sounds pretty good to me!

Most citizen journalists are just ordinary people that like the chance to have their photographs seen or their stories read. Sometimes they are just an eye witness of an event that happened to take a good picture on their mobile phone that was used in an article in the newspaper.

Most people will remember the pictures from the underground tunnel on July 7, 2005. This came from citizen journalism. This gives us the chance to get insight into situations that we never normally would be able to because it would put journalists at risk.

Having citizen journalists writing on websites such as iReport or Allvoices means that anyone can report from anywhere in the world. It opens opportunities for us to receive a larger variety of information from more sources. It also means that media organizations have access to on the spot footage. There are however many disadvantages to citizen journalism as well.

These people have no media training or knowledge of media laws and ethics such as needing to protect victims and youths, be unbiased and objective.

Journalists are not here to influence opinions but to tell the story. Citizen journalists have never studied these rules and ethics. This can create huge problems for themselves and others.

There is a reason why journalists need to study at university and this is why.

However we look at it though, citizen journalism is here to stay. But will it one day replace the individuals that have studied for years and pored over information in order to tell us the truth?

Produsage

As technology evolves, so do people’s ideas and the way in which we do things. More words are needed to describe these changes, one of these being “produsage”. ‘‘Produsage” is a word created by Professor Axel Bruns of Queensland University of Technology. The word is used to describe the blurring between producer, distributer and consumers. What once used to be a clear and logical process starting with the producers making content and distributing it to the users is now not so apparent. Thanks to the internet and the increasing variety of online networking programs, it is not just the producer generating the content anymore. The users are now able to be the producers as well as access all the same content as producers. Anyone producing content on the internet is able to access other people’s knowledge and information and add to anything they distribute online. Bruns’ book ‘Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and Beyond: From Production to Produsage’ is a well written description and analysis of the theory of “produsage” which is one of the most important social processes of our time. The word describes how there is now a continuous extension of knowledge by the use of collaborative communities.

Henry Jenkins, the author of ‘Convergence Culture: Where old and New Media Collide’ agrees with me on the importance of this term. He explains that Bruns’ book “captures a shift in cultural logic which is profoundly altering how culture gets produced, how knowledge gets circulated, how reputations get made, and how industry, politics, and education operate”. I completely agree that “produsage” is not only changing methods of production but also education and politics etc. By the use of blogs, Wikipedia and Youtube, the general public now have endless opportunities to create content and distribute it all over the world just with the click of a button.

Through “produsage” arises the theory of collective intelligence. This means that people are now able to access more information because of the increase in creation and distribution of content. Through collective intelligence the users are able to add to their knowledge and content that they distribute by accessing the information that others are sharing on the internet. This means that the knowledge is gradually being built on giving everyone more opportunities.

The theory of “produsage” also creates some negative implications to the community. These include false information being able to be distributed on the internet. For example, Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that users are able to edit. This means that anyone can produce this information, even if they have no expertise in the field that they are writing about. This means it becomes difficult for users to differentiate between reliable and unreliable online information. Even if most information on Wikipedia is reliable, it makes people wary to use this information in case it is false. “Produsage” also means that producers no longer have the power that they once had, as the line from producers to content to users is not a line anymore, but rather a bidirectional circle.

Although the problems with “produsage” are evident, it is also obvious that “produsage” is presenting us with more opportunities online that ever before.