So I've got to get down some of the information from research I've been doing before I continue reading or I'm going to burst.
I'm continuing research on blogging, and one avenue which has been a major topic in a few books I've read/ am reading is the effect of the blog on traditional journalism. This topic is normally chosen to highlight the social mobility of the online world, and the effect consumer led production has on "industrial production".
The idea of industrial production can be explained rather simply by describing the process as closed sourced. This means that, for example, an electronics firm will develop a new product. So a team of developers will be hired to come up with a product, this will then go into production (being built by a wee man in China), and will then be distributed for public consumption via electrical stores/ websites and Tesco. Industrial production relies on an efficient cost effective top-down hierarchical process, with each worker involved in the process hired to do a specific job. The end-consumer has very little input into the development, and distribution of the new product. Companies will conduct market research, consumer polls, and focus groups to gain an idea of what the public want, but this is merely a superficial courtesy. The bottom line of most traditional production is, well, the bottom line. Even multi-billion pound corporations like Sony will only invest a certain amount of cash into the development of new product, with the end result being a return in the form of profits.
User-led production, described as "produsage" by Alex Burns takes the concept of industrial production and turns it on it's head. The end user in some shame of form with contribute the production of the content. The currency for this type of participation is not cash, but a more personal gain normally. It is all very idealistic, with contributions being made in a very utilitarian for the greater good of the project or community. Produsage is often just as much about the social experience as the contribution. Those who participate in the creating open-source software may contribute a very small amount to the project, however the expanse of the internet allows for many small contributions to help further the development process. What differs mainly between user and industrial production is the transaction cost. Companies have to pay staff, and management to organise their complex hierarchical structures, and the must ensure that they are getting what they pay for. User led production does not follow such strict criteria, and the organisation is often dictated by the larger contributors to any given project, this allows for the community to dynamically change in the direction the product needs to go.
I'm going to have to stop there, as in typing War & Peace I have realised that I need to better organise my thoughts. There is simply too much information pouring out my head and I'm mixing up and confusing something that is relatively simple to explain. Anyone who attempts to read that behemoth above will probably not understand much of it, but it helps me sort out my head.
Something much more entertaining:-
