Fuchs’s (2014) perspective on Social Media and participatory culture
Fuchs discusses Jenkins’s concept of participatory culture on the web. Or web 2.0 as it is referred to. The concept encapsulates the idea that users through interaction with online media spread opinion or ideologies. Hence it becomes spreadable media rather than sticky media (see Assignment 7 for more info).
Fuchs disagrees with this idea because he thinks Jenkins uses a ‘vulgar’ (Fuchs, 2014, p.55) definition of the word participation because Jenkins relates it to “humans meet on the net, form collectives, create and share content” (Fuchs, 2014, p.55). The problem Fuchs has with this is he believes that the term participation should be related back to the political definition of the word. One implying empowerment, freedom and fairness. This is a concept Jenkins does not take into account. Jenkins also does not take into account the economic affects of ownership in Web 2.0, and hence ignores power relations. For Fuchs this is a problem. He says that Jenkins sees an automatic connection with fandom in popular culture and political protest. To Fuchs this is a wrong assumption, which is why he goes on to analyse roles of ownership and financial benefit. (2014, p.56)
Van Dijk & Nieborg (2009)’s view on participatory culture, Web 2.0 and the economy
To this discussion the text of van Dijk & Nieborg contributes the following. It takes an economic point of view in analyzing the advantages or benefits of these new interactive platforms (for both business and individuals). They say:
‘Collaborative culture’, ‘mass creativity’ and ‘co-creation’ appear to be contagious buzzwords that are rapidly infecting economic and cultural discourse on Web 2.0. (van Dijk & Nieborg, 2009, p.855)
They argue for the contribution Web 2.0 has made to business models in terms of rhetoric, economic significance and impact on social and cultural theory.
They conclude that these new co-producing platforms that allow a certain extent of user participation will require more critical analyses as they change business models, and as yet it is not fully possible to establish what benefits can be reaped for what financial players.
My Analyses
I’ve decided to look at different online platforms in an attempt to consider who creates the content, who consumes the content, how is advertising present, and who gains financially from it. For this I made a small table to compare:
(Fig.20 Facebook logo)
| who creates the content, | · Private users on their profiles
· Business on business pages |
| who consumes the content | · The public/private users |
| how is advertising present | · On sidebars as adverts
· In the form of posts posted by businesses |
| and who gains financially from it | · Businesses that get free advertising by posting
· Businesses that gain consumers by paid adverts on the side · Facebook who gets paid for adverts |
Instagram
(Fig. 21 Instagram logo)
| who creates the content, | · Private users posting content
· Business posting content |
| who consumes the content | · The public/private users |
| how is advertising present | · Only in the form of content posted by businesses, or sponsored posts by private users or celebrities |
| and who gains financially from it | · Any business that owns a product which is being posted about (either by themselves or individuals)
· Users that get paid to promote products |
Youtube
(Fig.22 Youtube logo)
| who creates the content, | · Private users uploading videos
· Businesses uploading videos |
| who consumes the content | · The public/private users |
| how is advertising present | · On the sidebars or before videos start (paid advertising)
· Or in the form of videos about products (e.g. uploaded adverts or videos by vloggers promoting products) |
| and who gains financially from it | · Any business that owns a product which is being videod about
· Or business that get consumers by adverts paid on the side · Youtube who gets paid for adverts · Users that get paid to promote products |
Wikipedia
(Fig.23 Wikipedia logo)
| who creates the content, | · Private users uploading videos
|
| who consumes the content | · The public/private users (e.g. Students) |
| how is advertising present | · Not at all |
| and who gains financially from it | · No one, however all get to share information |
Studydrive
(Fig.24 Studydrive logo)
| who creates the content, | · Private users uploading school material
|
| who consumes the content | · The public/private users (Students) |
| how is advertising present | · Not at all (I think) |
| and who gains financially from it | · No one, however all get to share information |
Bibliography:
Fuchs, C. (2014) Social Media: A Critical Introduction. London: Sage. (chapter 3)
Van Dijck, J., & Nieborg, D. (2009). Wikinomics and its Discontents: A Critical Analysis of Web 2.0 Business Manifestos. New Media & Society, 11(5), 855-874.
Image Sources:
Figure 20.Facebook logo [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved May 19, 2017, from https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ZZPdzvlpK9r_Df9C3M7j1rNRi7hhHRvPhlklJ3lfi5jk86Jd1s0Y5wcQ1QgbVaAP5Q=w300
Figure 21.Instagram logo [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved May 19, 2017, from https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/aYbdIM1abwyVSUZLDKoE0CDZGRhlkpsaPOg9tNnBktUQYsXflwknnOn2Ge1Yr7rImGk=w300
Figure 22.Youtube logo [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved May 19, 2017, from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/YouTube_logo_2015.svg/1200px-YouTube_logo_2015.svg.png
Figure 23.Wikipedia logo [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved May 19, 2017, from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Wikipedia-logo-v2-en.svg/1200px-Wikipedia-logo-v2-en.svg.png
Figure 24.Studydrive logo [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved May 19, 2017, from https://www.studydrive.net/image/Studydrive_2.0_logo_dark.svg
