The term Participatory media, is one of those terms that you may or may not have heard of, however rather we know it or not, many of us participate on a daily basis. Maybe we use social media (twitter, Facebook, Instagram) and post a comment underneath a pic we like, or we comment on Yelp about the nasty waiter we encountered at the local cafe.
Media participation is a huge part of popular culture and everybody who’s anybody can be found on some sites (even us nobody’s). It is a communication tool that reaches many people. Long gone are the days that we have to spread the word about an event through word of mouth or the U.S postal service. Now day one click of the button we can notify every person who follows us on our social media accounts and if we want to notify those who are not, we can pay for a promotion and hand pick the people we want to attend.
These are just a few of the benefits of participatory media. Others include activism across global boundaries, like in the case of #Chicago girl, who organized protest in Syria from her home in Chicago. There are also fund raiser sights like Go fund Me and You Seed, where people can asks for donations, for anything from hospital bills to a trip to Vegas and donors can search for a cause to donate to.
I could created a million blogs (not really) focused on the benefits of participatory media, but i won’t because then I would have to write a million more to discuss the downside of it, which is linked to the controlling of information, the sharing of information and the altering of personalities, in order to gain visibility.
Because people want to be noticed, gaining visibility is very important, or should I say likes for some platforms. Posting on any site is not a sure way to get noticed, so many people will alter there personas, in order to be like the popular groups (the poster who get the most visits or likes). This altering is done in many ways. One of which is to portray or use popular images that include, but or not limited to nudity, cruelty.
These types of post have become very popular and those who on a normal basis would never show there bodies are now doing so for the sake of likes and recognition and all though there is still a variety of post on these media platforms, we began to see many of the same types of posting, as well a controlling of the market, which is divided by those who are famous and those who can afford to pay for promotion, resulting in a controlling of the market.
This control affects the what we see and how much we see of it and because many popular posts are made up of similar content, our brains become limited with the types of information we receive. Information limitation is not the only problem, but also the submission to the popular messages and eventual altering of our personas, in order to achieve what appears to be normal according to the masses on social media.
The bottom line with participatory media, is that it is here to stay and it is important in connecting people, as well as progressing social movement. On the other hand, like media that is not participatory, it is controlled by money, power and popularity, limiting the information that people receive and altering the personas of those who want to fit with the most dominant group. If we are to understand how to navigate these social platforms positively, then we must understand all the aspects of it so that we are aware of how our contributions may or may not affect other people.
BISMCS 333 SUMMER 2017 