Repurposed Audiences and Spreadable Media
Web 2.0 has dramatically shifted the way that media content is now produced, consumed and distributed particularly the role and purpose of the audience. The traditional, and now archaic model of top down media communication has been replaced by a far more lateral and participatory means of production. According to Green and Jenkins, “powerful new production tools and distribution channels are enabling the mute to speak and the invisible to be seen” by exploiting the “technologies of freedom. Consequently, “the people formerly known as the audience” (Rosen, 2006) now have agency. They are able to actively seek out and distribute content that appeals to them and their peers. Thus it could also be seen that audiences are now empowered, able to produce, distribute and consume content as they please rather than being told what, how and when to consume.
However, there is also a valid claim that Web 2.0 merely gives the illusion that audiences have been empowered. According to Van Dijck and Nieborg 52% of users that make up the media landscape are ‘inactive,’ meaning they do not share, or distribute content, they simply consume it. If this is the case, surely the freedom web 2.0 has created is “by and large, consumptive behaviour by a different name.” I know that I would consider myself largely inactive on new media. I don’t post Facebook statuses, I don’t use Instagram or Snapchat and before this unit I’d never written a blog, and if I didn’t have to it’s likely it would have stayed that way. However, Green and Jenkins say there has been a change in “how we understand what audiences do, and how they fit into the networks of... the current media landscape.” There aren’t two distinct categories of producers and consumers anymore, rather everyone appraises and distributes content among their networks. This model, unlike the more rigid producer/consumer is one that I do participate in along with almost everyone who engages in social media. My friends and I often share music and videos amongst one another, taking on the role of appraisers and distributors within our own network, hence, contributing to creation process.
This video demonstrates this shifting relationship between the audience, the distributors and the producers of content.
With this more lateral network obviously the spreadability of content also increases. The two way flow of media demonstrates how “the collective choices of audiences make content meaningful, and economically viable.” (Green and Jenkins) This can be seen in every piece of media that has gone viral over the internet. One such example is Rebecca Black’s viral hit Friday. This was a piece of media created in a top down format, however, social media allowed the audience to act as appraisers and distributors causing the video to receive millions of hits overnight and spread all over the world. Through this sharing on new media, the company behind the song, Ark Music Factory, generated millions in profit. It also facilitated the production of content in the form of numerous memes and gifs which were also distributed across the internet.
This is a perfect example of modern media production and how top down media production was taken and distributed across a modern two way participatory platform of creation and distribution.
Reference List
Lessig, Lawrence, (2008). Chapter 7: Hybrid Economies. In Lessig, Lawrence, Remix: Making art and commerce thrive in the hybrid economy, (pp.177 - 224). New York: Penguin.
Green, Joshua and Jenkins, Henry, (2011). Chapter 5 : Spreadable Media : How Audiences Create Value and Meaning in a Networked Economy. In Nightingale, Virginia, The handbook of media audiences, (pp.109 - 127). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Gwilliam, Mike. 2011. Rebecca Black’s Friday Explained
Available: http://www.forgetthebox.net/rebecca-black/
Accessed: 22/3/14
4. Anon, 2012 Spreadable Media: Creating Value and Meaning In a Networked Society
Available: http://video.mit.edu/watch/spreadable-media-creating-value-and-meaning-in-a-networked-society-8705/
Accessed: 22/3/14