c r e a t i v e n d u s t r i e si

creativeindustries.qut.com

The Future Is User-Led:The Past towards Widespread Produsage

Dr Axel BrunsCreative Industries Faculty

Queensland University of TechnologyBrisbane, Australia

a.bruns@qut.edu.au

c r e a t i v e n d u s t r i e si

creativeindustries.qut.com

User-Led Content Production‒ emerging in various domains:

• open source software development• online publishing:

∘ blogs∘ open news – e.g. Slashdot, Indymedia,

OhmyNews• knowledge management

∘ wikis – e.g. Wikipedia∘ social bookmarking – e.g. del.icio.us, digg∘ geotagging – e.g. Google Earth, Frappr

• multi-user gaming:∘ e.g. The Sims, Everquest, Second Life,

Spore• creative practice

∘ e.g. Flickr, ccMixter, YouTube, Jumpcut• reviews and social shopping

∘ e.g. Epinions, IgoUgo

(Image: http://flickr.com/photos/stabilo-boss/93136022/)

c r e a t i v e n d u s t r i e si

creativeindustries.qut.com

‒ decline of the traditional value chain:

producer distributor consumer

(producer advised by consumer distributor consumer)

(customer-made ideas producer distributor consumer)

Beyond Production

c r e a t i v e n d u s t r i e si

creativeindustries.qut.com

What’s Happening Here?

‒ emergence of:• the prosumer (Alvin Toffler)?• the citizen-consumer (John Hartley)?• pro-am production (Charles Leadbeater & Paul

Miller)?• customer-made products, produced by a new

Generation C (Trendwatching.com)?• corporations harnessing the hive (J.C. Herz)?

c r e a t i v e n d u s t r i e si

creativeindustries.qut.com

Beyond Products

‒ traditional value chains rely on key assumptions:

• products exist in discrete versions, and producers decide when these are to be released

• the distribution of products is controlled (and controllable) by producers and distributors, not by consumers

• consumers are relatively isolated – only producers have access to the whole community

• the core business lies in the sale of copyrighted products

‒ but in a user-led, digital environment, this is no longer true:

• the latest update is always immediately available – e.g. open source, Wikipedia

• content is available for direct access online – users become producers, and the Net replaces the distributor

• consumers join together in enthusiast groups, interest groups, developer groups

• the core business lies in providing value-added services around freely available content

c r e a t i v e n d u s t r i e si

creativeindustries.qut.com

Common Characteristics

‒ shared across these environments:• Open Participation, Communal Evaluation – the community as a whole,

if sufficiently large and varied, can contribute more than a closed team of producers, however qualified

• Fluid Heterarchy, Ad Hoc Meritocracy – produsers participate as is appropriate to their personal skills, interests, and knowledges; this changes as the produsage project proceeds

• Unfinished Artefacts, Continuing Process – content artefacts in produsage projects are continually under development, and therefore always unfinished; their development follows evolutionary, iterative, palimpsestic paths

• Common Property, Individual Rewards – contributors permit (non-commercial) community use and adaptation of their intellectual property, and are rewarded by the status capital gained through this process

c r e a t i v e n d u s t r i e si

creativeindustries.qut.com

A New Value Chain?

(as producer)

produser

(as user)

content content

c r e a t i v e n d u s t r i e si

creativeindustries.qut.com

Produsage

‒ beyond production:• ‘anyone can edit’ – users become producers of content• content is no longer a distinct product – it is a temporary artefact

of an ongoing process• usage and production are increasingly, inextricably intertwined• strict distinctions between producers, distributors, and

consumers no longer apply• a new “Generation C” of content produsers?

this is produsage

c r e a t i v e n d u s t r i e si

creativeindustries.qut.com

content development space

set up by community or company to

harbour produsage

(e.g. Wikimedia Foundation; Google;

SourceForge)

commercial / non-profit harvesting of user-generated content

(e.g. The Sims, Wikipedia on CD-ROM)

commercial / non-profit services to support produsage

(e.g. Red Hat, SourceForge)

commercial activities by users themselves, harnessing the hive

(e.g. support services, consultancies, content sales)

initial IP contributions from

individuals, the public domain, or

commercial sources

collaborative, iterative, evolutionary, palimpsestic user-led content development

valuable, often commercial-grade content is created

Produsage Environment(populated by produsers)

Breaking the Chains

c r e a t i v e n d u s t r i e si

creativeindustries.qut.com

Collective Intelligence

‒ Questions and answers:• creative potential of distributed collaboration

– grassroots, vernacular creativity; shared folk culture• sustainability of voluntary labour

– reliance on interest communities and enthusiasts• intellectual property issues

– building a new creative, information, knowledge commons• trust, authority, responsibility, liability

– communal evaluation of content quality• emergence of new cultural, social, economic structures

– towards a new collective intelligence?

c r e a t i v e n d u s t r i e si

creativeindustries.qut.com

Produsage Economics

‒ Economic potential:• cheap workforce for commercial producers• but also post-Fordist production/produsage models• possible opposition to traditional business, and opportunity for

new businesses

‒ Economic models:• harnessing the hive – by produsers for produsers• harvesting the hive – by produsers for wider community• helping the hive – promoting and supporting produsage• harbouring the hive – providing the spaces for produsage• hijacking the hive – locking users into spaces of produsage

c r e a t i v e n d u s t r i e si

creativeindustries.qut.com

Political Implications‒ Towards post-Fordist politics?

• growing effect of produser news on political process ∘ towards more dialogue and deliberation,∘ or more argument and conflict?

• rear-guard battles by governments and news organisations against citizen journalists – but not only in authoritarian regimes

• conflict between alternative and mainstream media coverage (e.g. Howard Dean campaign)

• digital divide opening between traditional audiences and new produser-citizens?

Is it possible to harness produsage to support a move of citizens from being a passive audience for to being active produsers of democracy?

c r e a t i v e n d u s t r i e si

creativeindustries.qut.com

Shameless Plug

snurb.info