USER-GENERATED CONTENT- Week Three Reading

The Martin Lister week 3 reading discusses the participatory nature of content being utilised more and more frequently that has resulted in the internet being fundamental to the current media landscape.

There has been a drastic change in the structure of how media is being created and even competing with the conventional methods. There are no longer commercial bodies controlling the information we receive. It is expected of individuals to contribute their thoughts and ideas on any and every topic. It is the age of the ‘cult of public opinion’ as opposed to the ‘court of public opinion’ (Senft, 2000).

‘New media offered ‘new tools and technologies that enable consumers to archive, annotate, appropriate, and recirculate media content’, and that these tools led to ‘a range of subcultures that pro-mote Do-lt-Yourself media production’ (Jenkins, 2002).

This change in the relationship between consumers and media producers has seen some producers embrace the participatory nature for ‘an extension of their marketing power, have sought greater feedback from their fans, and have incorporated viewer generated content into their design processes’ (Lister, 2009). Others have suppressed it.

Even some computer games are built by a large number of game modders who perform the role of both a consumer and producer, whilst following strict Terms and Conditions. This free research and design of the games blur the lines between the audience and the content creators, further exemplifying the positive outcomes of user-generated content for both parties.