Quantity versus Quality

This week in class Prof Strangelove discussed how the audience is viewed as having “interpretive capabilities and the capacity to manipulate meanings and content.” Sure we may have these abilities, but that does not necessarily mean we use them wisely, let alone use them at all. Yes we are a significantly more active audience than [...]

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Terms and Conditions Apply!

This was something that we didn’t have the opportunity to discuss in our research documentary film due to time restrictions, so it got the cut. I don’t know about you, but I see this phrase at least once a day. Whether it be on products, services, competitions, websites or as company by-lines, it’s always there! [...]

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We can’t get no! Satisfaction!

It’s not just online where user participation is important. James McKeen and colleagues did a study in 1994 about the relationship between user participation and user satisfaction. The study itself focused on large corporations and systems development, but I found that a lot of the same principles could also apply to user-generated media. In short, [...]

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Privacy? Sorry, It’s Left the Building.

During our video I mention that the commercial Laura and Emily were to post online would be examined, judged and responded too.  This is because the internet provides countless channels for communication between users whether it be good or bad.  Anything you post online is subject to criticism from other active users.  We no longer have [...]

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Your Consumer = Your Competition = Your Collaborator

With user-generated content popping out from every nook and cranny of the internet, it was only a matter of time before the corporations started taking advantage of it. Why wouldn’t they? On YouTube alone, people all over the world were putting up videos reviewing products that they bought, tutorials about how to use them, and [...]

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The Power of Trans-media Storytelling in Viral Marketing Campaigns

Now we all know the saying ‘Two hands are better than one” and this idea can be applied to viral campaigns too in the sense that two mediums (or more) can be better than one. Many successful viral campaigns have used a number of different mediums to attract the biggest consumer group possible and ultimately [...]

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You Pick it, Bon Jovi Plays It.

For the first time in history, a band is encouraging the audiance, to go online and vote for which song YOU want THEM to perform live at the Grammys.  I kid you not, this is the what happened Sunday night at the 2010 Grammy awards.  Fans voted for their favourite song based on the 6 that were [...]

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Idiots, I mean Idiosyncratic Tendancies.

It has been established that the passive consumer is now the active participator when it comes to creating media content.   We have seen a significant shift since the last century and now live in a participatory culture.  Henry Jenkins refers to it as “taking the media into [our] own hands” and the way he says we [...]

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The Rise of the Little Guy

I’m sure you’re all well aware of the rise of the amateur video production, particularly in the past 2 decades. This growing outbreak of consumers actively participating in, creating, manipulating and more importantly defining mass and pop culture is a largely debated topic in our contemporary society. In previous blogs I’ve discussed how this change [...]

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Amateur Claim to Fame

Ok so maybe not every ordinary consumer has the power to become a celebrity through their creation of amateur videos on Youtube, and the online community at large, but many do achieve that stardom (even if its only view counts on Youtube). Andrew Keen explains that this is because the trend to share oneself with [...]

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