technoculture314-09

Henry Jenkins argues that with the emergence of Web 2.0 applications, a definite paradigm shift in the way media content is produced and circulated: " audiences, empowered by these new technologies, occupying a space at the intersection between oldure and new media, are demanding the right to participate within the culture." With many websites such as Youtube or MySpace, where "audiences" are able to freely access the site, and choose to either be a recipient or they can upload videos or post blogs and become a participants. Of course, with everything, there are two sides to the argument, some people may think of it as a good thing, and some people may not. On the positive note, the ability to freely participate in the "new media world" has helped and created many benefits and opportunities for some people. Take Youtube for example, there have been dozens of people who were able to find fame through Youtube, simply by uploading their special talents onto the website, and watch and wait as their hit ratings increase higher and higher into the hundreds of thousands, if not, millions. I myself, have watched Charice, a 14 year old talented singer from the Phillipines rise to fame through Youtube. Many of her videos were uploaded by others who were also amazed by her talent, and as the hit ratings on her videos grew higher and higher by the day, she was soon discovered by 'Oprah' who then invited Charice to her show, which completely changed her life. So this is just one of many examples of how this "new media" may benefit those who really deserves a chance. Once a video is uploaded onto Youtube, there are no limitations to who or where someone can view it. It has the ability to open many doors far and wide for those who are truely talented or desperately needs help. However on a negative note, many professional people in the media industry may feel frustrated and violated by the fact that any average Joe out there, are now able to become "produsers" and distribute short films, news articles, music etc. This then leads to the issue of piracy, which has declined the film and music industry in particular, millions and millions of dollars in revenue. Take China for example, even in such a conservative country, a University student were still able to cut, mix and edit a famous movie, produced by a famous director who invested over 3 billion dollars in, and in the end gain more viewership and publicity through his hilarious short film than the actual film did. So with the development of every new technology, people are always going to have mixed feeling and opinions about it, but it never stops technology from developing and continue to evolve, in the end, people just learn to adapt to it, and welcomes the positives and the negatives and what ever else it may bring in the future.