Thanks to the introduction of Web 2.0 and its “constant evolution”, “an increasingly large number of websites have successfully implemented systems that allow collaborative tagging” (Mican & Tomai 2010). And why exactly is implementing tagging such a good thing? Because it allows users to “interact not only with the application but also with other users, and to communicate and collaborate with the members of the community that they are apart of”, “[a]dditionally, Web 2.0 offers them the opportunity to express themselves freely” (Mican & Tomai 2010). So if in the future I wanted to write movie reviews and make that my living I would incorporate tags into the construction of my website so that I can create an inclusive community where everyone can have their say. This then insure that I have an audience for my reviews in order to make it a plausible career path.
My Future
So how does understanding the use of tagging so critical in my potential future career? Lets go with the idea that I want to start my own production company, this may not be what I end up doing, I might work for someone else’s but lets dream big for the sake of this essay.
Before I can make a big blockbuster hit and sell out and become just another famous celebrity (I’m speaking with a hint of sarcasm) I first need to make a name for myself, how do I do that? By making cheap movies that hopefully enough people will want to watch to get me some start up funds for my big blockbuster. Because I plan on making as much money as I can from them I don’t want to be spending a lot on them so where is the cheapest place to show media? The Internet is the cheapest by far, as long as I have connection to the Internet I can upload a video for the bargain basement price of nothing. The next step after this is advertisement and that’s where understanding the internet and tagging is going to help me get my films out there. As you can see in the Tonight Show post, if there is enough hype about something on social media it can reach the whole world within minutes thanks to the simplicity of a hashtag! This is obviously a very favorable scenario here but because of the change in technologies such as the internet and introduction of folksonomies I’m now better equipped then any classical Hollywood director from the 50s to get my product out to the word, now that is definitely a change!
As a producer the creation of a social tagging system will help dramatically for an ongoing product such as a Television series, or better put as an online series or a web series. Imagine the amount of discussion and following that you would get if you allowed the fan base to decide what was to happen next, obviously not give them full control because then they would expect everything but still have a say. Or be able to know exactly what your audience wants and be able to riff on that to give them something completely unexpected. Being able to create such a community online would mean that a lot of the hard work and guess work would be taken out of the equation because all of that can be done for you and sorted out plainly by the use of tagging. Even if I weren’t to go this way in the future there is definitely the possibility that someone else will using the technology of folksonomies. Even as a consumer I think to have a say as to what happens in my favourite TV series is definitely something new and exciting that hasn’t yet been offered to the masses.