User:Dcsimmons/sandbox

Instagram as a Modern Example of Produsage

As technology advances and more complex apps are developed, user have access to more information and more ways of sharing and contributing to a community. One example of this modern content exist within Instagram, which is a photo and video sharing app that enables produsers to both post images which is then shared to either the public or selected users, as well as save/screenshot, remake and repost other users content. An example of this within the app is signified by what is called "memes," which are parody revisions of previously posted images/animations. Instagram creates and promotes a produsage environment, where access is only limited to having a smart device, open participation is encouraged, users feel motivated to post interesting images as well as absorb and recreate content uploaded by other users.

Applications of Produsage Through Media Convergence

(NOTES) :

** Content is remixable -Henry Jenkins

-"shift in production capability makes it hard to separate grassroots/professional work" - Henry Jenkins

-Includes mashups of content

Axel Bruns' idea of produsage aims to describe how people in this digital age are communicating, through the explanation of four different characteristics; open participation, common property, palimpsest artifact and granularity as well as fluid heterarchy and holoptism. Each characteristic in itself pose a different aspect of what Bruns identifies as produser-led creation of content. Although Bruns' ideas are unique in characteristic, they tend to overlap with existing ideas and theories from other scholars, one of these being media scholar Henry Jenkins, a professor of communication, cinematic arts and journalism at University of Southern California. Henry Jenkins, a long time educator and writer of over nine books, coined the term and concept of media convergence. Media convergence can be described as a process by which media of all mediums are expanded, collaborated, transformed and adapted through space and time. Jenkins describes how the convergence of media occurs through a process in the individuals brain, but what is published by producers and the reactions in which individuals have toward content is the result of this convergence. Jenkins aims to conceptualize how content accumulates meaning and value and how the plethora of platforms of interaction accessible today encourages users to participate in a culture of content which is constantly being reshaped and reworked through digital communication and collective intelligence. Jenkins concept of media convergence overlaps with Bruns' idea of produsage where media convergence can be simply summarized as the logical placement and collaboration of media content, similarly produsage can be defined as the spread of idea, culture and opinions though media. In a speech given at USC, Jenkins speaks about five main concepts; content is participatory, content is remixable, content is spreadable, content is global and content may be independent.

Henry Jenkins states content is participatory, which means platforms of media provide content which encourages users to interact and participate within its community. He explains that participation require low barriers of for expression wheee individuals are given things to do through media and often times feel a strong support for sharing their creations with other members. He explains that users are motivated to connect and engage in storytelling which are most often appropriated through grassroots communities. He contends that within participatory culture, there is a system of informal mentorship in which those users who are more advanced mentor those that are either new in participating or rather those that lack the skill set to adequately participate. Jenkins gives the example of Wikipedia and explains that it allows and encourages user-led discussion, modification and recreation. Similarly, Bruns' idea of open participation emphasizes that participation of producers is voluntary and is facilitated through platforms which designed to encourage open discussion therefore, content is created by multiple produsers. He also states that producers believe that their contributions as well as the opinions of other users are important. Both Jenkin's and Bruns' concepts exemplifies that within the new media age, content is no longer created by one producer and consumed by the rest, but rather content is constantly remodeled, recreated and refashioned by multiple users within a open-ended community that encourages contribution and participation by its members.

Another characteristic of media convergence is the concept of remixable content. Jenkins defines remixable content as the playfulness in which users input and ground their content around; he states that due to the fact that technology is more accessible in this digital age, it becomes less complicated for users to transform content in the way they would like on a variety of different mediums and platforms. Remixable content is a result of users and producers taking ownership of content and reshaping and remixing it for a variety of reasons which may either be for enjoyment or cultural instances. These remixes or mashups of content allow media to be spread over space and time at extremely fast rates which propels the familiarity of the content from user to user. Jenkins uses the example of the series of pepper spray cop remixes in which a picture of a cop pepper spraying a group of protestors was remade through a series of platforms by users all across the nation. Just a few days prior to the first circulating picture, 200 mashups of the pepper spray cop were created. Similarly, Bruns' states that in relation to and characteristic of produsage, is a palimpsest artifact, which can be defined as content which is written and rewritten over again constantly with the goal of improving upon the source. Both Jenkins and Bruns conceptualize that user contribution is an essential characteristics of new media communication and consumption, in which individuals absorb content and remake or refashion it to either clarify an idea, promote a message or simply for enjoyment.