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.