Sep 26 2010
Framing Questions: Week 5
After reading the Jenkins reading, I began thinking about the implications of the empowerment of the media’s “amateur” content producers. The first question that came to mind was with the rise of decentralized circulation, and anonymous attributions of this content, how will this impact our ability to filter through the massive amounts of information we encounter? It’s easy to label information on a site like the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal as credible sources, but what about the anonymously submitted stories or videos? Do we write them off as “junk” since we don’t know their origin, or do we judge based on the legitimacy of the content?
Stemming off the idea of amateur content, in what ways will amateurization ultimately lead to a more creative pop culture? Published content is no longer limited to those with a professional background. It seems like those that previously experienced limitations to presenting content are now able to easily and economically produce and share this content with the masses.
Finally, with the emergence of the participatory culture, which uses technological developments to transcend the barriers of the industry’s commercial sector, will traditional corporations eventually become obsolete? Will the media eventually morph into a mass collection of content fueled by the low-cost grassroots model of this participatory culture? Jenkins’ essay places a great deal of emphasis on the strengths of the participatory culture, which could directly impact the media’s future business model.