Blog 9

"The Key Characteristics of Produsage"


This article was interesting. It showed the "Traditional" ways companies dealt with the production. This was not a benefit to the consumer (me). I had no active role in the production of the product. The traditional way kept me, the consumer out. For example on page 10, it showed the consumers of Ford Motor Company, "you can have any color you like, as long as it's black." This was how they use to treat (us) the consumer, big companies treated us as though we were brainless ATM machines that will just buy what they produce. But moving from the industrial to an informational economy, the consumers have more of an active role. Now we have a networked information economy which is the decentralization of individual action. This means I can participate in the production, and my imput was now needed and required. My voice counted and that was always a good thing. von Hippel (pg 14) called it "hive minds" that were communities or networks of individuals or organizations that redezvous around an information commons, and open to all equal terms. Now with the internet and the WWW, I the consumer can go to a site (that site gets a hit, and the hit shows how many people needed that information, also shows the popularity of a site) and show my interest in the information on that site. So by my actions I have participated and became active in that site being up and running. Still on page 14 "for consumers turned users, the media are no longer "something that is done to them", as Shirky had descrived to the tratitional model; they become much more actively involved in shaping their won media and network usage".



Connections to;

1)Flashmob - the connection to this article and the flashmob was that as an individual my opinion counts or my participation counts. With the flashmob concept by using text messages to get a group of people in a particular place at a particular time was an extension of produsage. The flashmob they want me to phyiscally show up and dance, sing , kiss or whatever. So as an individual I am participating but in a more physical way.

2)Wikipedia - has the connection to this article again as an individual, but an individual with some facts on the topic at hand. Wikipedia is like the "hive mind." Yes, I can participate but I must be ready to prove my opinions. I can't just put something on wikipedia without being challenged on that information. Yes, I can participate but it must be responsible.

3)Remediation - produsage is a good example of remediation which is a tradition that was changed by technology. Because of technology I don't have to pick the color of a car by what I see infront of me. Now I can request the color I want and if the car company wants my sale they must produce the color I want. The traditional production had consumers as inactive just brainless checkbooks, but now with the network information economy the consumers were now active. You can see this with the colors of some cars you driving on the streets. The rust color car was not the average or standard car color. But now you see that color, because some consumers requested that color, and the car companies (not wanting to loose a sale) created that color to please that consumer. Instead of the company picking the colors for consumer, the consumer can request the color they want.


4)Internet Mindset - produsage connects with the article by Lankshear and Knobel. Produsage would connect with mindset 2, which shows the world as "decentered". That means (if I were thinking in Mindset 2) that my opionion counts and that I can/will effect change because I am part of a collective of others that feel rust would be a nice color for a car.