Reaction to Participatory Culture

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In the above video, Michael Anti, a Chinese blogger, describes how his country censors the internet to prevent the spread of information that could potentially harm the government. This clip shows how although the web provides users the ability to voice their opinions and dissent, the state may use methods to exert control. Indeed, people voluntarily posting their views can serve as fantastic way for those in power to conduct surveillance on the populace.

Source: Behind the Great Firewall of China. Michael Anti (Zhao Jing). TED, 2012. Web.

The Internet Revolution

In addition to social media's capacity to promote government reforms, it can also play a role in uprisings. In 2010, the internet helped galvanize support for democratic revolutions in across the Middle East. Known as the Arab Spring, a series of political protests overtook Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Syria. Although several governments took attempted to censor the internet, their efforts came too little too late. The accompanying pictures demonstrate digital media's place in the revolts.

Participatory Politics

With social media, the propensity for grassroots movements to gain widespread support has substantially increased. Internet users have the ability to voice their opinions and concerns on public platforms, potentially catalyzing social change. Barack Obama's 2008 presidential election, in particular, heavily recruited volunteers from online venues. Some have suggested that as the internet provides a vehicle for reach all citizens, we could see a return to a form of direct democratic governance. Switzerland already has instituted monthly referendums on key issues.

Professional vs. Amateur

With participatory cultures, both professionals and relative novices can contribute and spread information. With YouTube, anyone can produce content and distribute it online. Professionals and amateurs thus exist in what communications scholars Burgess and Green refer to as a "co-creative environment," meaning each group can interact with and build up off of the other. While a knowledge gap exists between the two parties, the gap in availability of intellectual resources continues to decrease as more and more publications can be accessed via the internet. This sets up a fusion of grassroots and traditional media platforms. Although various conflicts between the old authorities of information and the new have yet to be resolved, society is moving towards a different paradigm of how work and information is valued as legitimate.


Source: Burgess, Jean E. & Green, Joshua B. (2009) The entrepreneurial vlogger: participatory culture beyond the professional-amateur divide. In Snicars, Pelle & Vonderau, Patrick. (Eds.) The YouTube Reader. National Library of Sweden/Wallflower Press, Stockholm, pp. 89-107.

Web 2.0 & Social Media

In this clip, Patrick Schwerdtferger, a business consultant and keynote speaker, describes how recent web schemes (Web 2.0) differ from older versions. The ability of people to make connections and converse with one another has led to a rise in participatory culture. He then predicts the future of this phenomenon will be "bridging the gap between the online world and the offline world."

Source: What is Web 2.0? What is Social Media? What Comes Next? Perf. Dir. Patrick Schwertgerger. Youtube, 2013. Web.

Participatory Culture & The Internet

The rise of the internet has coincided with a rise in participatory culture. People now have the opportunity for distribution of their own creations and feedback at a level never possible before. Examples of digital avenues for participatory culture include:

• Blogs 
• Social Networks- Twitter, Facebook, etc.
• Video- Youtube
• Fan Fiction

All of these methods allow users to publish and distribute their own content to a wide audience of other users. If you produce a video on Youtube, for example, you may receive comments (a form of feedback) from consumers halfway across the globe. This wide net the web provides ensures that voices of consumers will be heard. 

What is Participatory Culture?

Henry Jenkins, a communications scholar, defines participatory culture as "... a culture with relatively low to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing creations, and some for informal mentorship whereby experienced participants pass along knowledge to novices. In a participatory culture, members believe their contributions matter and feel some degree of social connection with one another." While such cultures have always existed in one form or another, recent technological developments have rapidly increased their depth and breadth. 

Source: Jenkins, Henry, III. Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. N.p.: MIT, 2009. Print.