Participatory Culture

• Henry Jenkins 2006
• Opposite to consumer culture
• The public are pro-sumers (producers and consumers)
• Advances in technology has enabled the public to produce their own media content

5 main concepts:

1. With relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement
2. With strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations with others
3. With some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices
4. Where members believe that their contributions matter
5. Where members feel some degree of social connection with one another (at the least they care what other people think about what they have created

The evolution from radio shows, group projects, and gossips to blogs, podcasts, wikis, and social networks has impacted our culture greatly. With web services such as Ebay, Blogger, Wikipedia, Photobucket, Facebook, and YouTube, it is no wonder our culture has become more participatory. The implications of the gradual shift from production to produsage are profound, and will affect the very core of our culture, economy, society, and democracy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participatory_culture

The Long Tail

• By Chris Anderson
• Editor for the magazine - 'WIRED'
• Article first appeared in 2004
• BOOK PUBLISHED IN 2006

Basically the media has changed due to the internet. There is no physical shelf space for niche items anymore, but the internet now can carry everything - hits and niche products. Websites such as Google and Ebay can store everything. You expect to go onto the internet and get ANYTHING you want.

• On demand cinema at home
• iPlayer, 4oD, ITV
• Access whatever you want, whenever you want
• Refers to anything, even outside media
• Before, set time for niche programmes and usually had to be recorded on VCR or such. Now available on demand whenever

http://thelongtail.com/about.html