Participatory Culture

The definition of participatory culture is that the public acts not only as consumers, but also as producers and contributors. In a reading by Henry Jenkins he stated that, "The emergence of new media technologies supports a democratic urge to allow more people to create and circulate the media."
I think this quote really gets at the base idea of participatory culture because new media technologies allows for access and availability for people to be able to participate. Non-profit group, Participatory Culture Foundation, makes available an open- source desktop video player which allows people to view videos or create their own. This video system removes gatekeepers which control the flow of information. The group says that their goal with this project is to make the mass media open and accessible to everyone. And to deepen engagement with culture and politics.
The positive thing about the idea of participatory culture is that since now computer programming skills are not required to create content on the Internet it is open to everyone. And because of this, there is more likely to be a diversity of ideas and content so people can be educated on all sides of an issue and draw their on conclusions or submit their own ideas on the topic. It allows not only those with "power" to be involved but everyone.
The main problem seen is again the idea of the digital divide or the gap between people with access and those with little or none at all. Those who don't have access to the Internet do not have the same opportunities to be involved because most of participatory culture in recent years is through blogging and other online means to express ones opinion. With lack of access they are being excluded from being able to do so.
The idea of participatory culture has leaked into the news media. During the inauguration of President Barack Obama those present were asked to take photos from where they stood and send them to CNN. After CNN created an almost 3d experience of being there as they compiled the pictures together to create one that allowed viewers to zoom in and out and move around the area and see what it would have been like to be at any place there. Also more news papers are creating online editions in addition to their papers. And to add viewer participation, they often have comment areas at the end of each article so readers can write their own comments on the article. This is almost doing away with letters to the editor because there is no limit to how many comments you can leave; with letters to the editor in the paper they can only publish someones letter once every two weeks.
Social networking sites which are mainly about participatory culture. I have a facebook page and I joined a group called "15,000,000 for lower gas prices." This group started out by having members sign a petition to lower gas prices. Group members then started to discuss alternative fuel ideas. Then a Fox News story about a man who created a tool that uses water to cut metal. Members of the group used this idea and created a tool for their cars that uses the same technology and water that goes through a filter to run their cars. So this example shows the way participatory culture can not only allow for online participation but also in real life.
Here is the news video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCwfUzJbZBg

Artificial connection

The internet has become a useful tool for workers, companies, students and society in general. It has allowed almost anyone, those with access, to find and post information. While this is a good thing, I find some problems with it.
Those who can see only benefits to the Internet claim that it is easier and beneficial to communicate with other people (Philip Brey pg.3). While I agree with this I argue that the connection between those people could be considered artificial. You don't see the person you are communicating with, therefore you would be unable to see any facial expressions. So it is artificial in the sense that by communicating through the Internet there is a loss of understanding because words can be perceived differently than intended. This goes back to the communication model; the sender sends the message and the receiver decodes it. If using the Internet the only message sent is typed words, the cues, physical emotions, are not perceived by the receiver. This happens less often in one-on-one conversations in person.
I find it difficult to make a real connection with someone or to really know someone until you met them. I recently had this experience when I was looking for a wedding photographer. After e-mailing for several weeks talking about his style of photography and the packages he offered we set up an appointment to meet. Upon meeting him, he was not the same person I'd been emailing all those weeks. He was unprofessional, came unprepared, and did not have an understanding of the typical timeline for a wedding; even though he claimed weddings were his specialty. So while it was great that I had the use of the Internet to find photographers in my area, it would have been different if I had gone to his studio to find information because I would have known right away not to use him.