Participatory culture is evident in a portion of the lives of those who were born in the technological era. Some may not be familiar with the term “participatory culture”, however, media scholar Henry Jenkins defines this captivating term in the short clip below:
[http://wascsenior.ning.com/video/what-is-participatory-culture]
For those who have not watched the clip, the term “participatory culture” is defined as a culture with relatively low barriers for artistic expression and civic engagement [1]. It is also something in which one believes that their contributions matter and make a difference, and they also feel a sense of social connection [1]. MacArthur divides participatory culture into 4 different forms:
Affiliations — memberships, formal and informal, in online communities centered around various forms of media, such as Friendster, Facebook, message boards, metagaming, game clans, or MySpace). [1]
Expressions — producing new artistic forms (digital sampling, skinning and modding, fan video making, fan fiction writing, zines, mash-ups) [1]
Collaborative Problem-solving — working in teams (formal and informal), to complete tasks and develop new knowledge (such as through Wikipedia, alternative reality gaming, spoiling). [1]
Circulations — “Shaping the flow of media (such as podcasting, blogging).” [1]
Now that you have some insight on the concept of participatory cultures, we will discuss a few cultures that I engage in. To start off, we will converse about the very popular online community we all know and love; Facebook. Facebook is an online community where millions of people network and connect and keep up with their friends and acquaintances upload an ample amount of photos, links and videos and also meet and get to know new people [2]. As of September 2009, Facebook has said to have over 300 million users, which is almost the population of the United States!
Online gaming or MMORPGs (massive multiplayer role playing games) is another participatory culture that I take pride in being familiar with. Unlike some people who take part in this culture, I have self discipline and know when I've played enough. MMORPGs are essentially online communities where thousands of people around the world come together and interact with each other and assist one another. Although everyone is aware that this culture is a virtual and sometimes unrealistic experience, they sometimes take things too seriously. For example, in South Korea people are prosecuted for stealing virtual property. "Players in South Korea have been prosecuted for stealing virtual property. More than half of the 40,000 computer crimes investigated by South Korea's National Police Agency in 2003 involved in online games". Really? It is a huge wonder why people let something that has no effect on reality affect their personal lives in the real world.
___________________________________________________
Work Cited
[1]"Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century". Digital Media and Learning". 10 October 2009. Web. http://www.digitallearning.macfound.org/atf/cf/%7B7E45C7E0-A3E0-4B89-AC9C-E807E1B0AE4E%7D/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF
[2]"Facebook". Facebook. 10 October 2009. Web. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home
No comments:
Post a Comment