Week 2's Reading

2 – USER-GENERATED CONTENT

AND SOCIAL MEDIA

One of the peculiarities of digital media is that they simultaneously submerge us as never before in a global mass whilst also empowering us as individual producers of content. This class considers how we as individuals and groups have moved beyond being simple audiences of mass-produced and distributed broadcast content to become major content creators, self-broadcasters of our own lives and opinions and collaborative peer-producers of both immaterial and material products, goods and services. In particular I want to look at three processes that transform the media ecology – user-generated and mass distributed content, personal individual modes of intercommunication and social-networked modes of communication, all of which add up to the realm of what I call ‘me-dia’: of personally produced and meaningful content.

Research

- My tags and any other news stories relating to the topics below.

- The history of user-generated content. What antecedents can we find before the web? How did individual production occur in earlier eras?

- Individual mediated communication. How did individuals communicate with each other prior to digital media? What channels were available and how effective were they? The rise of peer-to-peer, of horizontal communication and ‘me-dia’ and its significance - what new forms of personal communication have appeared?

- Social media. The rise of social networks of communication. How did these operate prior to digital media. What social media are available and what is their significance?

- Case study of UGC and their form, functioning and effect. E.g. Youtube videos, channels and comments.

- Case study of horizontal media: the mobile phone, SMS and MMS

- Case studies of social media: Myspace and Facebook

Reading

Jenkins, H. (2006) ‘Introduction’ and ‘Conclusion’ in Convergence Culture, New York: New York University Press (pp. 1-24; 240-260).

O’Reilly, T. (2005) ‘What is Web 2.0?’, available at: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html

Further Reading

Bruns, A. (2008) (Ch. 2) ‘The Key Characteristics of Produsage’, in Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life and Beyond. From Production to Produsage, NYC: Peter Lang Publishing.

Shirky, C. (2008) ‘Gin, Television and Social Surplus’, April 26^that: http://www.shirky.com/herecomeseverybody/2008/04/looking-for-the-mouse.html

For critical perspectives upon Web 2.0 and a famous video explaining the concept, see:

Zimmer, M. (ed.) (2008) ‘Critical Perspectives on Web 2.0’, special issue of First Monday, Vol. 13, No. 3, 3^rd March, at http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/issue/view/263/showToc

Wesch, M. (2007) ‘Web 2.0: The Machine is Us/ing Us’, on Youtube, at: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g

The following are the most famous texts discussing the rise of collective creation and user or fan production:

Benkler, Y. (2006) The Wealth of Networks, London; Yale University Press.

Bruns, A. (2008) Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life and Beyond. From Production to Produsage, NYC: Peter Lang Publishing.

Burgess, J. (2009) Youtube. Online Video and Participatory Culture, Cambridge: Polity.

Jenkins, H. (2006) Convergence Culture, New York: New York University Press.

Howe, J. (2008) Crowdsourcing, New York: Random House.

Leadbetter, C. (2008) We Think: The Power of Mass Creativity, London: Profile Books.

Shirky, C. (2008) Here Comes Everybody, London: Allen Lane.

Snickars, P. and Vonderau, P. (eds.) (2009) The Youtube Reader, National Library of Sweden.

Tapscott, D. (2007) Wikinomics. How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, London: Atlantic Books.

Critics of the Web 2.0 world of user-generated content include:

Allan, S. (2009) Cyburbia, New York: Little, Brown.

Keen, A. (2007) The Cult of the Amateur, London: Nicholas Brealey.

Siegel, L. (2008) Against the Machine, London: Profile Books.

Carr, N. (2005) ‘The Ammorality of Web 2.0’, 3^rd October, at: http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2005/10/the_amorality_o.php

And Terranova’s essay is essential. Reflect upon your own use of Web 2.0 sites such as Facebook…

Terranova, T. (2003) ‘Free Labour: Producing Culture for the Digital Economy’, at: http://www.electronicbookreview.com/thread/technocapitalism/voluntaryand http://www.uoc.edu/in3/hermeneia/sala_de_lectura/t_terranova_free_labor.htm