With several academics reinforcing the concept or produsers, the concept that today’s forms of media allows the producers and users to be synonymous, we are now seeing different platforms (i.e. Facebook and Tumblr) cater to the needs of these people. The issue with this is that we are often left with so many participators that are speaking there is no people listening, as Rosen (2012) mentions in People Formerly Known as the Audience. It is evident from my reading, that Rosen supports this growing type of participation, but warrants the need to be careful. The media industry is upon extinction with the more producer-user interest, the realization that the public controls a lively media is evolving. I think it is true, and writing this blog is a perfect example of how media is turning towards produsage. It is no longer about commercial schemes, it is about freedom and making the most out of public emerging media.
When I think about the platforms of social media that I often use, like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram I feel that it is laid out in a straight-forward fashion. I am involved in a community of friends that I have in real-life, or cyber friends that have similar interests as me. Using hashtags is the best example of platforms that support or facilitate my willingness to participate. By providing that type of service it is simple to gain interest. I believe that successful platforms are simple and providing anything more than that clutters and distracts from the user experience. For example, by providing a user-modifiable filter to eliminate pictures I am not interested in is confusing. Thus, I believe it is evident that media giants know what they are doing and prescribe proper uses for their platform. I am optimistic about media giants and how their decisions reflect the users best interest, so I will continue to leave it up to them to innovate. I feel better being part of the audience than a speaker demanding change.
The main argument Bird (2011) conveyed deals with how new and old media of all types can come together to change the cultural norms in places around the world. When people are given the opportunity to share the thoughts with people of varying affluence, many borders are broken. As a child that grew up with the internet, I learned so much from Web 2.0’s bank of knowledge. Without being able to engage with others that were more knowledgable or experienced than me my ability to grow intellectually would not be near the level that it is at today. So to put that into a context of where people are being muzzled in other countries. I am also optimistic about how media provides a voice for those having a hard time speaking.
I agree that emerging media has the power to create a more open-sourced community where innovations in technology come from fans rather than media giants. But on the other hand, there will still likely be the people – like me – who enjoy seeing innovation being done at some other’s best-judgement. I truly welcome a democratic – bottom-up approach to new media, but to be a full-time participant. I’ll say thanks, but no thanks.
From N.Y. 