BLOG POST: WEEK #10

As time passes and society progresses, the technology significantly improves. With the improvement of technology comes new and exciting social media platforms. At their most basic level, platforms can be defined as “digital infrastructures that enable two or more groups to interact” (Srnicek, 2016, p. 43). Such digital structures have changed audience processes so much that “21st-century audiences have transformed themselves into “prosumers” (Sullivan, Ch. 9). With the creation of use and big data, audiences play a key role in the process of collecting data and using such data to the advantage of large corporations and businesses. Below I have attached the statistics of various social media websites/applications to help one understand how popular they are, and how large their impact is.

Futurist Alvin Toffler explains that the “producer and consumer, divorced by the Industrial Revolution, are reunited in the cycle of wealth creation, with the customer contributing not just the money but market and design information vital for the production process” (Toffler, 1990, p. 239 in Sullivan, Ch. 9). When it comes to defining producers, Scholar Axel Bruns describes this new breed of audiences as “producers,” “a term similar to Toffler’s but meant to underscore “the communities which engage in the collaborative creation and extension of information and knowledge” (2008, p. 2, in Sullivan, Ch. 9).

Furthermore, it has been said that the digitization of media “has also meant that audiences have been free to directly interact with content producers and distributors in a fashion that would have been impossible even 15 years ago” (Sullivan, Ch. 9). As an audience member and producer, I can relate to the implications of the digitization of media. With the introduction of social media, many opportunities have been created for people to interact with others regularly. I believe that everyone active on social media is both a consumer and producer, but nowadays there is a large number of content creators who go viral and can make a worldwide name for themselves. In terms of interaction, it is a common occurrence that they use fan interaction to their advantage by hosting contests etc to encourage people to share their content. The most recent example that I can think of is James Charles. After every video, James Charles shouts out one of his followers. To be considered for the shout out within the next video, you have to retweet his video link when he tweets it on his Twitter. I do believe that I follow him on Twitter, but to be honest I don’t retweet his video links because I don’t have a huge desire to be shouted out on his channel. Even though I am not keen on trying to get shouted out, it does get extremely tempting after hearing him mention it so many times throughout his videos. James Charles’ shoutout strategy to share his content is similar to some other contests I see online. Many other content creators with both small and large followings do similar strategies that help them boost their accounts. The most common strategy is contesting to win money, professional services or items such as handbags, jewellery, etc. The main purpose behind these contests is to boost their page, see what type of followers they have, where these followers are located, etc. In a sense, these accounts are participating in some aspects of big data by hosting content to acquire followers and data. I often participate in these online contests and won a contest hosted by Brock University. I won a gift basket filled with hats, gloves, bath bombs and some candies.

Concerning producing and consuming content, it is said that “media audiences today have come to expect the ability to provide instant feedback to media producers and other audiences” (Sullivan, Ch. 9). This is an aspect of social media in which I also participate in multiple social media platforms. When it comes to Instagram, I often post many things on my stories such as educational posts and resources, which I post so that my followers can get educated on different social issues. When it comes to seeking interaction, I make fun posts with the intentions in mind to receive feedback/conversations.

It is said that “because online platforms eliminate technical barriers for users to create and store media messages, they have sparked a new “sharing economy” by turning media consumers into users and creators, argues Bruns (2008)” (Sullivan, Ch. 9). Instead of being “passive” receivers of media “(an assumption that has of course been challenged in semiotics and cultural studies of media), Bruns asserts that 21st-century audiences become much more actively involved in shaping their media and network usage” (Sullivan, Ch. 9). This aspect of audiences and social media particularly stands out to me while using social media sites such as Twitter. I believe that this is because Twitter makes it particularly easy to produce content (compose tweets), and also view a lot of media produced by other users at once seeing as you can see 4+ tweets at once on your Twitter timeline. Personal Twitter accounts and their tweets play an important role in collecting important information for big data.

The data that Internet users generate “simply by clicking links or visiting our newsfeeds have become ubiquitous and are a major driving force behind the online economy today. This is the era of big data” (Sullivan, Ch. 9). Mosco (2014, p. 177) describes big data as “the movement to analyze the increasingly vast amounts of information stored in multiple locations, but mainly online and primarily in the cloud” (Sullivan, Ch. 9).

When it comes to big data, Twitter plays an important role in collecting information and data. Twitter “allows individuals to track impressions over time, which allows those individuals to track trends, and to compare the performance of one tweet over another. Marketers can also find out about the reach of their social media posts by examining the number of times a message was shared or retweeted by others to their followers” (Sullivan, Ch. 9).

In my personal experience, the Twitter algorithm benefits me while using the app. Due to the Twitter algorithm, I have been able to see more content that I enjoy, connect and interact with like-minded people, while making new online friends and local friends. Most recently, I got over 100 retweets and over 1000 likes on a single tweet. This tweet was about Veganism and allowed me to meet many new vegans.

When it comes to big data, audiences and social media play a vital role in collecting such information. Within the 21st century, prosumers will only continue to contribute to the collection of big data. Although big data is capable of a lot, I believe that it will only become more vital in terms of capitalist marketing and production.