Vom Prosumer zum Produser : Ein neues Verständnis nutzergesteuerter Inhaltserschaffung

Alvin Tofflers Bild des Prosumers beeinflußt weiterhin maßgeblich unser Verständnis vieler heutzutage als „Social Media“ oder „Web 2.0“ beschriebener nutzergesteuerter, kollaborativer Prozesse der Inhaltserstellung. Ein genauerer Blick auf Tofflers eigene Beschreibung seines Prosumermodells offenbart jedoch, daß es fest im Zeitalter der Massenmedienvorherrschaft verankert bleibt: der Prosumer ist eben nicht jener aus eigenem Antrieb aktive, kreative Ersteller und Weiterbearbeiter neuer Inhalte, wie er heutzutage in Projekten von der Open-Source-Software über die Wikipedia bis hin zu Second Life zu finden ist, sondern nur ein ganz besonders gut informierter, und daher in seinem Konsumverhalten sowohl besonders kritischer als auch besonders aktiver Konsument. Hochspezialisierte, High-End-Konsumenten etwa im Hi-Fi- oder Automobilbereich stellen viel eher das Idealbild des Prosumers dar als das für Mitarbeiter in oft eben gerade nicht (oder zumindest noch nicht) kommerziell erfaßten nutzergesteuerten Kollaborationsprojekten der Fall ist. Solches von Tofflers in den 70ern erarbeiteten Modells zu erwarten, ist sicherlich ohnehin zuviel verlangt. Das Problem liegt also nicht bei Toffler selbst, sondern vielmehr in den im Industriezeitalter vorherrschenden Vorstellungen eines recht deutlich in Produktion, Distribution, und Konsum eingeteilten Prozesses. Diese Dreiteilung war für die Erschaffung materieller wie immaterieller Güter durchaus notwendig – sie ist selbst für die konventionellen Massenmedien zutreffend, bei denen Inhaltsproduktion ebenso aus kommerziellen Gründen auf einige wenige Institutionen konzentriert war wie das für die Produktion von Konsumgütern der Fall ist. Im beginnenden Informationszeitalter, beherrscht durch dezentralisierte Mediennetzwerke und weithin erhaltbare und erschwingliche Produktionsmittel, liegt der Fall jedoch anders. Was passiert, wenn Distribution automatisch erfolgt, und wenn beinahe jeder Konsument auch Produzent sein kann, anstelle einer kleinen Schar von kommerziell unterstützten Produzenten, denen bestenfallls vielleicht eine Handvoll von nahezu professionellen Prosumern zur Seite steht? Was geschieht, wenn sich die Zahl der von Eric von Hippel als ‚lead user’ beschriebenen als Produzenten aktiven Konsumenten massiv ausdehnt – wenn, wie Wikipedias Slogan es beschreibt, ‚anyone can edit’, wenn also potentiell jeder Nutzer aktiv an der Inhaltserstellung teilnehmen kann? Um die kreative und kollaborative Beteiligung zu beschreiben, die heutzutage nutzergesteuerte Projekte wie etwa die Wikipedia auszeichnet, sind Begriffe wie ‚Produktion’ und ‚Konsum’ nur noch bedingt nützlich – selbst in Konstruktionen wie 'nutzergesteuerte Produktion' oder 'P2P-Produktion'. In den Nutzergemeinschaften, die an solchen Formen der Inhaltserschaffung teilnehmen, haben sich Rollen als Konsumenten und Benutzer längst unwiederbringlich mit solchen als Produzent vermischt: Nutzer sind immer auch unausweichlich Produzenten der gemeinsamen Informationssammlung, ganz egal, ob sie sich dessens auch bewußt sind: sie haben eine neue, hybride Rolle angenommen, die sich vielleicht am besten als 'Produtzer' umschreiben lassen kann. Projekte, die auf solche Produtzung (Englisch: produsage) aufbauen, finden sich in Bereichen von Open-Source-Software über Bürgerjournalismus bis hin zur Wikipedia, und darüberhinaus auch zunehmend in Computerspielen, Filesharing, und selbst im Design materieller Güter. Obwohl unterschiedlich in ihrer Ausrichtung, bauen sie doch auf eine kleine Zahl universeller Grundprinzipien auf. Dieser Vortrag beschreibt diese Grundprinzipien, und zeigt die möglichen Implikationen dieses Übergangs von Produktion (und Prosumption) zu Produtzung auf.

Produsage and business : sharing your brand with users

Relations between brands and their users continue to be affected by a traditional perspective that sees the producers and consumers of goods and services as inherently different animals. In the emerging information and knowledge economy, and especially in online contexts, this model is no longer sustainable. Instead, spearheaded by the Web 2.0 phenomenon, there is a trend towards the fusing of production and usage as a new, hybrid process of produsage. This presentation presents the key characteristics driving produsage processes, and describes four guiding principles for businesses as they share their brand with users: * Be open. * Seed community processes by providing content and tools. * Support community dynamics and devolve responsibilities. * Don't exploit the community and its work.

Marketing to change public opinion on climate change : a case study

Corporate advertisers spend far greater budgets than any social marketing campaign and have great potential to change public opinion on the urgent need for action on climate change. However “green-washing” has become a widespread practice by companies that wish to appear to be socially responsible without a genuine commitment and consumers can be very cynical about green marketing campaigns. Can companies be climate change advocates and still satisfy shareholders? This paper offers a case study on an Australian insurance company that argues it can make money from doing the right thing.

Defining friendworks : communication perspective on social networks types

This paper introduces friendwork as a new term in social networks studies. A friendwork is a network of friends. It is a specific case of an interpersonal social network. Naming this seemingly well known and familiar group of people as a friendwork facilitates its differentiation from the overall social network, while highlighting this subgroup's specific attributes and dynamics. The focus on one segment within social networks stimulates a wider discussion regarding the different subgroups within social networks. Other subgroups also discussed in this paper are: family dependent, work related, location based and virtual acquaintances networks. This discussion informs a larger study of social media, specifically addressing interactive communication modes that are in use within friendworks: direct (face-to-face) and mediated (mainly fixed telephone, internet and mobile phone). It explores the role of social media within friendworks while providing a communication perspective on social networks.

What advertisers need to know about the iYGeneration : An Australian perspective

A great challenge exists today: how to reach youth (a.k.a. the iYGeneration) who consume multiple media concurrently, who can access information on demand, and who have intertwined virtual social media networks in their lives. Our research finds that Australian youth multi-task and rarely use traditional media, although significant differences between males and females, as well as late tweens and 20-somethings, exist. Technology convergence facilitates two-way dialogue, allowing growing social interactions to occur in their technological environments. Our findings show that in order for marketing communication professionals to effectively communicate with this market, it is crucial to know exactly how the iYGeneration use media, which media they use, and when they use it.

Social networking : investigating the features of Facebook application

Research on social networking sites like Facebook is emerging but sparse. The exploratory study investigates the value users derive from self-described ‘cool’ Facebook applications, and explores the features that either encourage or discourage users to recommend application to their friends. Thus the concepts of value and cool are explored in a social networking setting. Our qualitative data shows that consumers derive a combination of functional value along with either social or emotional value from the applications. Female Facebook users indicated self-expression as important, while mates then to use Facebook application to socially compete. Three broad categories emerged for application features; symmetrical features can both encourage or discourage recommendation, asymmetrical features one encourage or discourage but not both, and polar features where different levels of the same feature encourage or discourage. Recommending or not recommending an application tends to be the result of a combination of features rather than one feature in isolation.

How can flexible learning centres use social networking to improve their ongoing educational assessments?

Most online assessment systems now incorporate social networking features, and recent developments in social media spaces include protocols that allow the synchronisation and aggregation of data across multiple user profiles. In light of these advances and the concomitant fear of data sharing in secondary school education this papers provides important research findings about generic features of online social networking, which educators can use to make sound and efficient assessments in collaboration with their students and colleagues. This paper reports on a design experiment in flexible educational settings that challenges the dichotomous legacy of success and failure evident in many assessment activities for at-risk youth. Combining social networking practices with the sociology of education the paper proposes that assessment activities are best understood as a negotiable field of exchange. In this design experiment students, peers and educators engage in explicit, "front-end" assessment (Wyatt-Smith, 2008) to translate digital artefacts into institutional, and potentiality economic capital without continually referring to paper based pre-set criteria. This approach invites students and educators to use social networking functions to assess “work in progress” and final submissions in collaboration, and in doing so assessors refine their evaluative expertise and negotiate the value of student’s work from which new criteria can emerge. The mobile advantages of web-based technologies aggregate, externalise and democratise this transparent assessment model for most, if not all, student work that can be digitally represented.

Students’ perceptions, experiences and beliefs about Facebook in subjects at an Australian university

This paper reports on students’ perceptions, experiences and beliefs about the voluntary use of Facebook in Advertising, Law, Nursing and Creative Industries’ subjects at an Australian University. The researchers conducted in-depth interviews with students and the transcriptions were analysed using the constant comparison method. This resulted in a number of emergent themes, of which six are explored in this paper. The findings suggest that students are quite divergent in their responses to academics using Facebook in their subjects. They do not always see its relevance to the subject and are somewhat ambivalent about how it facilitates peer-to-peer relationships or a better relationship with the lecturer. The study also identifies themes relating to cynicism and intrusion into social spaces.

Next Generation ‘Filmmaking’: New Markets, New Methods and New Business Models

Digital production and distribution technologies may create new opportunities for filmmaking in Australia. A culture of new approaches to filmmaking is emerging driven by ‘next generation filmmakers’ who are willing to consider new business models: from online web series to short films produced for mobile phones. At the same time cultural representation itself is transforming within an interactive, social media driven environment. Yet there is very little research into next generation filmmaking. The aim of this paper is to scope and discuss three key aspects of next generation filmmaking, namely: digital trends in film distribution and marketing; processes and strategies of ‘next generation’ filmmakers; and case studies of viable next generation business models and filmmaking practices. We conclude with a brief examination of the implications for media and cultural policy which suggests the future possibility of a rapprochement between creative industries discourse and cultural policy.

Research for Action : Networking University and Community for Social Responsibility (Workshop)

This workshop brings together people from a diverse range of disciplines to discuss how academic researchers and community practitioners and activists can work together to explore the use of information and communication technologies, social media, augmented reality, and other forms of network technologies for research and action in pursuit of social responsibility. The aim is to connect people with ideas, ideas with research projects, and harness new media to further inquiry into socially just outcomes in our community.

Distributed creativity : filesharing and produsage

The culture of mashups which is examined by the contributions collected in this volume is a symptom of a wider paradigm shift in our engagement with information – a term which should be understood here in its broadest sense, ranging from factual material to creative works. It is a shift which has been a long time coming and has had many precedents, from the collage art of the Dadaists in the 1920s to the music mixtapes of the 70s and 80s, and finally to the explosion of mashup‐style practices that was enabled by modern computing technologies.

G4C2C : enabling citizen engagement at arms' length from government

The recognition that Web 2.0 applications and social media sites will strengthen and improve interaction between governments and citizens has resulted in a global push into new e-democracy or Government 2.0 spaces. These typically follow government-to-citizen (g2c) or citizen-to-citizen (c2c) models, but both these approaches are problematic: g2c is often concerned more with service delivery to citizens as clients, or exists to make a show of ‘listening to the public’ rather than to genuinely source citizen ideas for government policy, while c2c often takes place without direct government participation and therefore cannot ensure that the outcomes of citizen deliberations are accepted into the government policy-making process. Building on recent examples of Australian Government 2.0 initiatives, we suggest a new approach based on government support for citizen-to-citizen engagement, or g4c2c, as a workable compromise, and suggest that public service broadcasters should play a key role in facilitating this model of citizen engagement.

Not yet the Internet election : online media, political commentary and the 2007 Australian federal election

This paper undertakes an overview of two developments in online media that coincided with the 'year-long campaign' that was the 2007 Australian Federal election. It discusses the relatively successful use of the Internet and social media in the 'Kevin07' Australian Labor Party campaign, and contrasts this to the Liberal-National Party's faltering use of You Tube for policy announcements. It also notes the struggle for authority in interpreting polling data between the mainstream media and various online commentators, and the 'July 12 incident' at The Australian, where it engaged in strong denunciation of alleged biases and prejudices among bloggers and on political Web sites. It concludes with consideration of some wider implication for political communication and the politics-media relationship, and whether we are seeing trends towards dispersal and diversification characterising the 'third age' of political communication.

American public journalism versus other international media models

Chapter 2 of 'International Journalism and Democracy' provides examples of what the author dubs "deliberative journalism". Following a definition of deliberative journalism in Chapter 1, the book's second chapter examines major models of deliberative journalism that are in operation around the world. These models include public journalism, citizen journalism, community and alternative media, development journalism and peace journalism. The author argues that when these new forms of journalism are practiced well, they extend people's ability to identify, express, understand and respond to politics and issues affecting their communities. However, the main models of deliberative journalism all have contentious elements. Many deliberative journalism practioners have been subjected to criticism for lack of objectivity and poor professional standards. Many of their activities have clearly been ill-conceived. The author also finds that neither professional nor citizen journalists have a strong understanding of what constitutes "good practice" in deliberative journalism. Furthermore, there is much debate as to whether the type of "citizen journalism" that is posted intermittently on Facebook, Twitter, blogs and other social media can even be defined as "journalism". The practice of deliberative journalism can potentially contribute to public deliberation, but it does not always do so in any immediate or obvious way. The author finds that even so, deliberative journalism indirectly strengthens the environments that support fertile deliberation and decision making. (See the Extended Abstract for further details.)

Rethinking public service media and citizenship : digital strategies for news and current affairs at Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service (SBS)

This article considers the concept of media citizenship in relation to the digital strategies of the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). At SBS, Australia’s multicultural public broadcaster, there is a critical appraisal of its strategies to harness user-created content (UCC) and social media to promote greater audience participation through its news and current affairs Web sites. The article looks at the opportunities and challenges that user-related content presents for public service media organizations as they consolidate multiplatform service delivery. Also analyzed are the implications of radio and television broadcasters’ moves to develop online services. It is proposed that case study methodologies enable an understanding of media citizenship to be developed that maintains a focus on the interaction between delivery technologies, organizational structures and cultures, and program content that is essential for understanding the changing focus of 21st-century public service media.