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NEWSFLASH!

Conventional media outlets and media moguls are no longer in denial about the power of the internet and its users and produsers and the threat they pose to traditional operating/business models.

According to Trendwatching.com (as cited in Bruns 2008), from Web 2.0 a new generation of users has emerged, Generation C. This group of users did not suddenly just “appear” but are from a long line of models concerning the emergence of informed and active consumers or users, from Alvin Toffler’s ‘prosumer’, to Charles Leadbeater and Paul Miller’s description of the ‘pro-am’ trend, John Hartley’s concept ‘citizenconsumer’ and Yochai Benkler’s ‘common-based peer production’ (Bruns 2008). Generation C has not formed from an age demographic, but is composed of those who have the ability to use technology to collaboratively create, edit and share content. As discussed in my previous blog, users are no longer restricted to passive consumption of information and content as with Web 1.0 and Generation C represents the group who will really use the internet. What does this mean for companies such as traditional news media outlets? For a starts it means such companies and business will have to:
- adapt to the online environment because the number of “inky finger” consumers is declining,
- find a way to embrace, incorporate or at least acknowledge user created content and produsage or otherwise try and compete with a consumer trend that with or without their approval will continue
-understand the behaviour and usage of the internet by Generation C and not only try draw this group to their business, but discover how the business can cater for this group

Currently, Australia has one of the most concentrated media sectors in the world and Rupert Murdoch owns a majority of news publications in Australia as well as other media assets locally and also internationally. Now, even though Murdoch may have what some have described as a “stranglehold” over Australia’s media, even as a self proclaimed “digital immigrant” he understands the power of online and user created content. His acquisition of popular social networking site MySpace, shows that maybe he understands technology and its users better than he knows. Or maybe he’s just a damn good businessman. Either way, his online acquisitions show that he and News Corporation are no longer ignoring, hoping and praying that the digital revolution will just disappear and know that their ability to adapt to the online environment is vital.

Murdoch (2005) acknowledges that in regards to news “they [consumers] want to question, to probe, to offer a different angle”. When you look at online newspaper articles on sites such as The Daily Telegraph, topical news items and even stories one would think no one would be interested in, have pages of comments posted by users wanting to have their say on an issue and offer their insight. Then there are those users who actually want to create content, such as:
- citizen journalists who upload news videos to YouTube or publish reports online
- users who want to tell others about what is happening in their lives and connect with friends and likeminded people on sites such as MySpace
-people who want to discuss and comment upon issues through sites such as Blogger
- users who want to tag and share useful sites with others using Delicious and the like
-those who want to engage in produsage, edit and enhance existing content on Wikipedia

For Generation C in particular, as the group with the skills to use the technology available to them, there are many ways for them to create and provide personalised, individual and alternate content and views and enhance existing knowledge to fuel collective intelligence. But where and how do traditional companies fit in?As Murdoch (2005) points out, “they [consumers] want control over their media, instead of being controlled by it”. Recognising the need to encompass this change in consumerism, Murdoch (2005) suggested the following changes

- Encourage readers to engage with editors and reporters through online discussion
-Experiment with using bloggers to supplement online news coverage
-Possibility of incorporating audio, video clips and podcasts

Now that companies (or at least some) recognise and acknowledge the changes in consumer behaviour, (particularly with regard to online content creation), have some ideas as how to implement user content and involve users, perhaps another topic for discussion is how intellectual property legislation and copyright laws will protect users and their creations and deal with communal content ownership and online content that continually evolves and changes, which therefore cannot be dealt with in the same manner as “finished” product.

Bruns, A (2008). The future is user-led:The path towards widespread produsage.Retrieved April 25, 2008, from http://produsage.org/files/The%20Future%20Is%20User-Led%20(PerthDAC%202007).pdf

Murdoch, R. (2005) Speech by Rupert Murdoch to the American
Society of Newspaper Editors. News Corporation. Retreieved April 25, 2008, from http://www.newscorp.com/news/news_247.html