Natalie Cates
October 11, 2010
IDS 2nd Web Writing Assignment
Convergence in the Media
Since the Internet was invented the uses have expanded immensely; people today use the Internet for educational, social, romantic, and entertaining purposes. Throughout this class we have discussed the concept of the Internet and how it came about as well as the fact that people have not fully utilized all the possibilities of it. The purpose of this paper is to show the social aspect of the Internet and how people have used myspace as a tool of convergence and participatory culture, as well as define these two terms with examples from two different Internet authors, Zuckerman and Jenkins.
Myspace was started in 2002, and in June 2006 it became the most popular social networking site in the United States (wikipedia.org). The idea behind it was for people to have the opportunity to meet online and develop networking skills. Quickly it became a website that people use to communicate with their friends, post pictures, share music, videos, customize their profiles, tell their moods, and so much more. In April 2008 it was outdone by its competitor Facebook, which was at the time the "new" social networking site.
Throughout his writings Henry Jenkins states the definition of convergence to be “the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behavior of media audiences who will go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they want” (page2) This describes Myspace perfectly, because as I have previously mentioned, any user of this website has the ability to post videos, music, pictures, chat with friends, use the messaging feature (which is similar to e-mail). The main attributes of Myspace fall into the category of convergence because the Internet is so vast and full of things to link one’s page to; and that is just the plain way to think of Myspace. As far as participatory culture goes in the world of Myspace, it is described by Jenkins as, “contrasting with older notions of passive media spectatorship. Rather than talking about media producers and consumers as occupying separate roles, we might now see them as participants who interact with each other according to a new set of rules that none of us fully understands.” As daily Internet users, I can agree with Jenkins when he refers to the Internet as a whole new ball game with a new set of rules that nobody truly comprehends. That being said,it can be agreed upon that the purpose Myspace serves is characterized by the definition of participatory culture stated above. With every click of a button or link or tab on not only Myspace, but other sites that are similar, we are interacting with one another; whether instantaneously or otherwise.
“Our users rapidly told us that what the web was really about was publishing their own information… which left us with the difficult challenge of figuring out how to make money off of people’s collections of cat pictures. User-generated content, on average, is a lot less interesting than professional content. But there are a lot more people creating their own content for fun than those doing so for a living, and in aggregate, that content is at least as interesting.” Is quote from the interesting reading My Heart’s in Accra, by Zuckerman. I think this is yet another thing that describes what Myspace is about. It was one of the first sites that allowed for people to post their own information and talk about things that interested them. He makes a point about “people’s collections of cat pictures” not being easily profitable, but at the end of the day I don’t think everything should have a monetary value placed on it. It is a challenge for people to overcome, and as Jenkins states in his writing the Internet is so vast people do not know the full use for this tool. Another argument Zuckerman makes states, “If you’re not getting porn in your system, it doesn’t work. Activism is a stronger test – if activists are using your tools, it’s a pretty good indication that your tools are useful and usable.” While Myspace doesn’t allow the use of porn (they have to actively prevent it), within the groups section many of the groups are devoted to specific causes and activists, as well as promotional events.
This paper’s purpose was to show the connection between Myspace and the digital terms convergence and participatory culture. Myspace is a full website that allows its users to come together in a digital form. Myspace has a specific use, and that is to connect people all over the world using different medias to share common interests; including music movies digital art/ graphics. It is a perfect example of convergence and participatory culture that Zuckerman and Jenkins depict in their writings.
No comments:
Post a Comment