What are the differences between Commercial Production and Community Produsage?

The tug-of-war between commercial production and community produsage is hinged on identifying the underlying conflicting motivations behind each of these concepts. When addressing this question one must first define the terms involved.

Commercial Production in this argument will be discussed with its foremost intention being to create production possibilities with the potential to incite future economic growth. The basic premise of 'making money' is what fuels commercial behaviour when making choices related to production and consumption methods, and deconstructing commercial motivations will provide a framework in which it can be compared to community produsage.

Community Produsage is the alternate juxtaposition, where, as conceptualised by Axel Bruns, "participants are engaged in a collaborative and continuous building and extending of existing content in pursuit of further improvement" (The Future Is User-Led: The Path towards Widespread Produsage). It should be noted that the motivations behind community produsage are far more altruistic than those of commercial production, with the sharing of knowledge, ideas and concepts a common occurrence between communal network peers.

Some key ideas to be analysed when discussing the relationship between these two frameworks are:

• Issues surrounding intellectual property
• The commercial vs. the produser 'value chain'
• Value creation and commercialisation and
• The effects of open source software development

CurrentTV and V-CAM (Viewer Created Ad Messages)

An example which harnesses the intersection of commercial production and community produsage is demonstrated through the user-generated Emmy award winning content-based station Current TV, (http://www.current.tv/) premised on ‘citizen journalists’ uploading their own news stories via the web to be shared. In a two sided attack on commercial media producers, a notable feature of Current TV is where it pays users to create advertisements – called V-CAM (Viewer Created Ad Message). CurrentTV have also in the past allowed companies to be used as subjects for advertising competitions where the winning execution is consequently screened on the network. A press release from CurrentTV details the story of 19 year old creator and winner for a V-CAM developed advertisement for Sony Bravia titled “Transformation”, and on a commercial note it should be mentioned that each ad screened on CurrentTV earns the creator $1 000. The potential to earn money increases up to $50 000 however if the company involved decide to use the advertisement through other media channels.

By taking advantage of community produsage, advertisers are finding ways to capitalise on the benefits of having "viable alternative(s) to commercial products" (Bruns, 2008, p. 62), only truly revealed through the flexibility of digital media.

The negative aspects of these power shifts is felt directly in the media and advertising industries, as their service becomes under threat by emerging, empowered, and proactive produsers. This New York Times article titled An Agency’s Worst Nightmare: Ads created by users details the uncertain feelings within the industry as provoked by this particular CurrentTV advertisement, and the big brands following Sony’s lead – such as Toyota, American Express and L’Oreal.

The differences between commercial production and community produsage will be discussed further in the coming weeks; however this introduction has outlined how commercial motivations are focused on economic gain, exposing many opportunities to be threatened by the growing power of wide-spread community produsage models.

References

Bosman, J. 2006. An agency’s worst nightmare: Ads created by users. New York Times. May 11. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/11/business/media/11adco.html?ex=1305000000&en=0488b91d695a5873&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss (accessed May 15, 2008).

Bruns, A. n.d. The Future Is User-Led: The Path towards Widespread Produsage. http://produsage.org/files/The%20Future%20Is%20User-Led%20%28PerthDAC%202007%29.pdf (accessed April 23, 2008).

How is Web 2.0 different from Web 1.0?

Ross Mayfield, the CEO of SocialText simplifies the differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 by stating:

"Web 1.0 was commerce. Web 2.0 is people."

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2005/10/69114

Expanding on this simple definition, one can observe that the sheer proliferation of Web 2.0 based sites can be looked to as the key indicator of the global shift and preference towards this platform of delivery.

The concept of Web 2.0 was first put forward by Dale Dougherty the VP for media and communications company, O'Rilley, in a brainstorm with MediaLive International (http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html).

The following image found at http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html is a graphical representation of the main concepts which underpin the Web 2.0 interface.

How Do Online Communities Organise Themselves?

Why Online Communities?

Terry Flew frequently refers to continuing technological changes and his analysis on the influences they bring to a culture within a society gives answers as to why multitudes of users are drawn to participate in online communities. In his writings regarding technological convergence and virtual communities, he notes that "the tendency of many Internet users is not to passionately commit themselves to single online communities, but rather to participate in a multitude of such communities" (2005, p. 68).

The many characteristics that online communities possess such as flexibility, immediacy and low-barriers to entry, are key driving factors behind the success and permeation of online communities into a person's life. This, coupled by the fact that audiences can select and become part of groups and communities which are relevant to them, means that the desire to belong to multiple online communities is often experienced. The Official Weblog of Henry Jenkins gives many examples of how online communities are becoming central to problem solving, sharing ideas and managing resources through the collaboration of like-minded individuals.

Examples of online communities which have grown to have worldwide recognition are:

• Friendster
• Live Journal
• Facebook
• MySpace

Go Terry Go!

Today I read Terry Flew's reading... IT WAS GREAT!

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