The Airportline: Observations

Yesterday I held a presentation about Web 2.0 and what impact and possibilities it has on the relationship between the business world and the user/consumer. Here is a small part of what I was talking about:

Who is controlling this trend and who is benefiting from it? According to Deuze the internet is some kind of battle ground where ‘symbolic, financial, and cultural battles are fought.’ (p. 27) Jenkins describe the development of web 2.0 as a two-way process where a top-down corporate driven process meets a bottom-up consumer driven process which burrs the previous clear line between producers and consumers of media. It gives the user more freedom. A second perspective focus on the making and sharing of content on social network sites such as Youtube, Myspace and Facebook. Jenkins claim that this development mean that companies can increase revenue and that it enables people to ‘enact some kind of agency regarding the omnipresent messages and commodities of this industry.’ An example of this trend where both sides benefit through collaboration is Authonomy. This is social network site for writers. The idea is that you publish your novel or part of a novel and then people interested in reading can read and comment on it. This gives writers a good arena to interact with each other and to improve their writing. It also gives Harper Collins a fast lane to find talented writers that people like. Three authors were recently offered publishing deals based on their work on the website.

And as Deuze points out, web 2.0 ‘opens up new platforms and services for participatory or collective storytelling and exchange, yet also closes down the market for intellectual property in walled enclaves patrolled by business watchdogs.’ An example of the latter phenomenon, where companies try and retain some of the control which they have lost during this development is Warner Music’s decision to leave youtube late last year. Warner did not think they received enough money from the deal and have now pulled a lot of content of the site from stars such as Madonna, Linkin Park and Red Hot Chili Peppers (La Times, 21st of December, 2008). Thus, companies participate when there is a profit incentive, or when the profit incentive is built around interaction.

You can now enter the weekend a bit more knowledgeable.