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Participatory & Exploitative User-Generated Content

Web 2.0 and user-generated content introduced the notion of the Internet being either participatory or exploitative.

Participatory Culture and User-Generated Content

Participatory culture has influenced the way the Internet has progressed. Web 2.0 is a result of user-generated content and participatory culture taking over and contributing content for Internet users to consume. Participatory culture is viewed as the freedom of expression and the ability to contribute anything the viewers wish to consume or produce on the Internet. Web 2.0 is a space where everyday people can contribute their media creations for the world to view. Today’s society allows consumers to be in control of the type of content that surfaces the Internet, which then contributes to the success of million dollar companies. YouTube is a primary example of participatory culture because it is created so people can upload and share media content with the general public.

Online communities like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest are all platforms that require content creation from their users to exist as a company. Internet users are encouraged to consume actively and produce digital content on a daily basis that is referred to by media researchers as ‘prosumers’. User-generated content has no only changed the way people use the Internet, but how companies format their websites to allow people to be more interactive and contribute to their media. Most people do not realize they are contributing to the participatory culture of the Internet when they are sharing, liking, commenting, and posting content on their Facebook, or Twitter feeds. The following list was created by Doctor Schweiger and Doctor Quiring which showcases specific categories they created which outline the reasons why people participate in creating user-generated media :

1. Collecting and distributing information
2. Self-expression through media content
3. Organizing and creating social content
4. Platform for creating debates within distinct groups
5. The ability to help others who are in need

This list only outlines a couple of reasons why consumers choose to post, share, like, comment, and distribute content through the Internet. Some users may strictly use the Internet for entertainment purposes, however, other users feel the Internet provides them with the opportunity to express their opinions and post content. User-generated content functions as a platform for participation and debate, particularly within groups who make content and those who view, interpret, and share content. Romantic, professional, and friendly relationships can be created over the Internet and provides many different mediums tailored the particular type of relationship they are seeking. Dating websites and professional websites like LinkedIn are designed so people can interact and distribute information about themselves that may benefit them for personal reasons.

Since the creation of Web 2.0 in the early 2000’s, multiple different platforms surfaced allowing for people all around the world to contribute their media creations which has resulted in people who started as consumers transitioning into producers (prosumers). Every photograph, status update, and video published on the Internet adds to the endless amount of content available. People use their passions, talents and skills with digital technology to entertain and inform others with information, whether the information is comical, insightful, or educative. Industries are predicting that Web 2.0 is merely in a transitional phase where the notion of the early day Internet is slowly disappearing, and a more intuitive platform is surfacing, Web 3.0, which is also referred to as the Semantic Web.

Another type of user-generated content that has surfaced since the start of Web 2.0 is remix culture. It “can be defined as the global activity consisting of the creative and efficient exchange of information made possibly by digital technologies that is supported by the practice of cut/copy and paste.” Remix culture has allowed people to add their own cultural and personal flare to music, movies, or any media that can be remixed. Remix culture has been integrated into many different areas of culture and “plays a vital role in mass communication, especially on the Internet.”

The Exploitation of User-Generated Content

Web 2.0 is a platform where users have the ability to consume and produce their content. Companies have created social media websites and applications which allow its users to tailor their profiles to specific content they wish to view. However, some people consider user-generated content as exploitative. This concept means that Internet companies and social media websites and applications exploit their users into producing the content displayed on their websites for free.

The exploitation of user-generated content remains unexplored because users are not recognizing their efforts and contributions as labour intensive. Companies market their products and services in a way the intrigues consumers to participate in producing creative media content. It is so intelligent because people do not realize they are making companies like Facebook and YouTube millions of dollars. People who use Facebook daily “expect no monetary compensation (i.e., wages) for the information they produce; however, this information (given its utility in identifying appropriate targets for various sorts of marketers) constitutes the primary profit model of these companies.”

User-generated content can be viewed as a component of capitalism. Exploiting Internet users for free labour is similar to how the system of large companies gaining profit by controlling the distribution and production of goods and services “based on supply and demand in the general market”. When it comes to interpreting the exploitation user’s face with social media, Christian Fuchs comes from an orthodox Marxian point of view. He argues that “because Internet users are generally paid little or nothing in return for the value they create for social media platforms, the rate of exploitation approaches infinity,” which he defines as “overexploitation.” Web 2.0 has even influenced the journalism profession because of the number of people who offer to write for online publications for free, also known as citizen journalists. These journalists agree to unpaid labour to write stories for online publications like The Huffington Post.

Although users of the Internet are not being paid for their services, they are conducting all the work and creating information that is making these corporations so massive. Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Google, and hundreds of other platforms would not be successful without advertising and media content created by its users.