Talk:User-generated content/Archives/2017

Proposed Improvements (Spring 2017)

I am planning to work on this page as part of a Social Computing course at the University of Pittsburgh, and have identified a few major component of the article for improvement. First, I intend to restructure the article, shortening the introductory paragraphs to contain only a succinct definition of UGC, and a brief overview of its development and implementation. Secondly, I will reorder and restructure the sections of the article, to be better in line with Wikipedia formatting standards, and create more useful and descriptive section headings, such as “History of User-generated Content” and “Applications”, with subsections for various industries, platforms and research areas that are relevant to UGC. (Such industries include journalism and publishing, ecommerce, video games, education, and social media platforms).

In addition to this restructuring, I will add content about the impact that UGC has had on the journalism industry in recent years, using the article "Democratizing Journalism – How User-Generated Content and User Communities Affect Publishers’ Business Models", a 2016 article published Creativity and Innovation Management. This article provides an overview of recent research on the effect that UGC has had on journalism, as well as the results of a survey about factors contributing to reader’s likelihood to engage with as well as create content on journalism platforms, suggesting that users are interested in content created both by professional journalists as well as users that are experts in a specific field, and that newspapers and other journalism outlets must create not only content for their readers, but also a platform for them to create their own content. Anarchyshake (talk) 19:30, 24 February 2017 (UTC)

These sound like valuable improvements. When you move material in the article please make sure that you also move the citations that support the material, and ensure that the updated article is at least as clearly cited as it is now. Where possible I suggest you make your changes incrementally, as this will help other editors to review your changes and to discuss or revert them as necessary. Thanks, Verbcatcher (talk) 05:15, 27 February 2017 (UTC)

Thank you for your feedback, Verbcatcher! I will be working on this article in a sandbox, and will take your advice to keep a close eye to make sure the citations are migrated correctly. I will also make sure to make changes over time, or indicate here on the talk page when I intend to make major changes. Cheers! Anarchyshake (talk) 18:11, 2 March 2017 (UTC)

Sounds good Anarchyshake! Please move on with your suggested changes Rostaf (talk) 00:47, 28 February 2017 (UTC)

These changes sound good, and will really improve the article. I think the re-structuring/wikifying will particularly improve the readability. One thing that I am wondering is whether there will be eventual need to balance the amount of content for the given subsections. Jonathanveedot (talk) 15:27, 3 March 2017 (UTC)

UCG provides valuable content that can be utilized to improve the services provided by various applications, and additionally serves as a rich source of data that can be leveraged by researchers for various purposes. As such, I am surprised that the article does not contain more information about how UGC can be used in research and development. I will be contributing to this Wiki topic in collaboration with Anarchyshake, and will focus my efforts regarding UGC as a source of data. The article "A Survey on Assessment and Ranking Methodologies for User-Generated Content on the Web" provides a thorough review of the existing approaches and methods for assessing and ranking UGC, and compartmentalize these into four frameworks. This article also details the features and metrics used for analysis and prediction in various contexts. This information would be of great value to individuals looking for a high level overview of UGC as a source of data. Jonathanveedot (talk) 14:06, 2 March 2017 (UTC)

Hi, Jonathanveedot. These seem like useful additions to the page, since addressing how UGC applies in many different settings is an important part of providing a holistic overview of the topic. The article that you're citing from seems like a good resource, especially the frameworks that they outline. Are these frameworks adopted elsewhere within the literature? If so, it might be useful to address them specifically within the article, but I would only suggest doing so if they are a part of the larger conversation about the uses of UGC within R&D and data analytics. When you add your content to the page, I would suggest that you make sure to divide it into appropriate headings and subheadings, and of course be sure to cite your sources well, as well as link out to other related Wikipedia pages, such as data analytics, and research and development. Anarchyshake (talk) 18:08, 2 March 2017 (UTC)

Consideration of these frameworks is a significant starting-point for work across various fields related to UGC. The design of social software systems and recommender systems must consider which framework is most appropriate for the set of features they wish to incorporate into the system. Data mining also emphasizes understanding these frameworks when analyzing UGC and selecting the best set of predictors and learning algorithms for exploration. I have drafted a summary of the content under the headings "Ranking and Assessment", and include subsections for "Community-Based Approaches", "User-Based Approaches", and "Designer-Based Approaches". I am currently shaving it down and making the content more concise. Jonathanveedot (talk) 06:19, 10 March 2017 (UTC)

More on Types

I think the section regarding the types of user generated content is, while not inaccurate, not well developed either. I think it should contain more depth, especially in how user generated content is used for marketing purposes. I plan to include some more info dervied from "10 Stats That Show Why User-Generate Content Works" and ["https://econsultancy.com/blog/66739-how-user-generated-content-is-changing-content-marketing/ How user generated content is changing content marketing]". Specifically, I want to highlight both the growth that UGC marketing has experienced, the growth of UGC overall, and the positive effects UGC seems to have on brand marketing. I also want to highlight some of the various types of social media platforms where it is present that have not been mentioned already, such as Snapchat, Twitch, etc. Also the article as a whole feels a bit cluttered to read, though I'm not 100% how to clean it up all the way. It looks like Anarchyshake has some good ideas as well though, and we happen to be working on it for similar purposes (I'm also in a social computing course) so I'm excited to see what they bring. Schwebz (talk) 23:38, 1 April 2017 (UTC)

Glad to see you're working on this, too Schwebz. Since it sounds like you'll be working on the types of UGC sections, I will leave those parts of the article alone during my additions and structural changes, and focus on the introduction and use in the journalism industry. Happy editing! Anarchyshake (talk) 19:22, 13 April 2017 (UTC)

Hey Anarchyshake! I actually wasn't sure how to add what I wanted to the types section, so I ended up making an entirely new use in marketing section instead as I thought it was a large enough topic to warrant its own section. So feel free to edit the types section as you see fit. I'll definitely check back and see what sorts of improvements you have in store! Schwebz (talk) 00:12, 14 April 2017 (UTC)

Additional Information

I am currently working on a wikipedia assignment for a communications class (CMNS 220) and the topic of UCC is extremely important in the understanding of the journalism industry. The work of theorist Jean Burgess in 'User-Created Content and Everyday Cultural Practice' is a great source for additional information on user-created content. He states that UCC has disrupted traditional means of cultural production by large media organizations and effectively unsettles the expertise of established media companies. Further discussion on the origin and impact of Web 2.0 is made. Burgess also highlights the power of Youtube and UCC's ability to foster positive discourse on on pre-existing assumptions while also challenging societal boundaries (critiques hegemony). To sum up I believe the work of Jean Burgess is essential in the understanding of user-created content in our modern day (Youtube). comment added by Alex.simon97 (talk • contribs) 02:02, 20 April 2017 (UTC)

Presumably you mean this Jean Burgess (who is female) and her book: Burgess, Jean; Green, Joshua (2012). YouTube: Online Video and Participatory Culture. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-7456-6018-9. This book looks relevant to our subject and would be a good source to cite if it has material that us appropriate to an general encyclopedia article. If possible cite an edition of this book for which the cited section is available online. Verbcatcher (talk) 04:18, 20 April 2017 (UTC)