Thursday, August 4, 2011

Mass Amateurization

(that's me in in the bottom left corner)


Clay Shirky's idea of mass amateurization poses a very valuable question: is there a threat to professional specialization? Mass amateurization is basically the more recent ability for the "average person" to produce and distribute media that was once only distributable by professionals. In media literacy terms -only a few professionals could be the sender. While now with a surge in technology and Internet access, what was once only a receiver can now be a sender and producer too. Is this a threat? Shirky suggests that this new media and technology access has less so changed the old ecosystem, but more so created a new one.

Professional photographers still exist. While the creation of websites like Flickr have allowed more people to partake in photography, it has not been completely detrimental to the the business of photojournalism, professional photography, photographic art, etc. It has though perhaps decreased it's specialization. The access to cheaper forms of technology (digital cameras, laptops) has opened up the possibility for average people to take photographs and share them world wide. Shirky says: "With a mobile phone and photo-sharing service, people are now taking photographs that are being seen by thousands and, in rare cases, by billions of people, all without any money changing hands" (74). Of the Internet he says: "Now once a user connects to the Internet, he has access to a platform that is at once global and free." (77)

This idea of global access is huge. During the 2008 Presidential Election, I was running around the streets extremely caught up and immersed in the world-changing event that was about to happen. Thousands, upon thousands of young students flooded Union Square. With an enormous American Flag tarp over our heads, we broke out into song, dance, and chants. There were several journalists sprinkled in the crowd, but mostly, the photographs that were being taken were by the average person - with cell phones, digital cameras, etc. Some people had out their more expensive, nicer cameras as well.

A few days later I decided to investigate the photographs in order to share this monumental experience with my family that live in California, Illinois, Kentucky, and Israel. Flickr had thousands of pictures of Union Square from that evening. Low and behold, I found a picture of myself that someone had snapped. It was a moment I never wanted to forget and in some very strange and beautiful coincidence, it was documented. This photo speaks for itself. It was sent to all of my family and will be something I can show my kids, grand kids, etc to illustrate the enormity of the night and of our celebration. Without Flickr, this occurrence would never have happened. But is Flickr a threat to specialized photojournalists?

I believe the future of mass amateurization is less of a threat and more of a way of life we must evolve to grow accustom to. Professionals can work with the average person. Our media can exist together. CNN, for example, one of the world's leading news networks, has embraced Shirky's mass amateurization theory by offering an entire web page devoted to citizen journalism called CNN iReport. On this site it encourages viewers to "share," "discuss," and "be heard." Stories that are deemed of high quality and relevance could even be used on CNN platforms. Here the amateur and the specialist are coexisting. When we take the business out of the news, it becomes more about what stories are the most real, interesting, and true. Citizen journalism can offer all of those things because the citizen is not working for a network driven by money, nor a boss that has an agenda. Perhaps citizen journalism could be a great source of positive change in the future of news.

Shirky, Clay. "Everyone Is a Media Outlet." Here Comes Everybody: the Power of Organizing Without Organizations. New York. Penguin, 2008.


2 comments:

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  2. I agree with what you have to say and I think CNN iReport is a great example of professionals and amateurs coexisting. Perhaps we have to consider making a new denomination for these bloggers and citizen journalists, since they may not exactly be amateurs anymore.

    Also, great picture! And I love how you relate it to Flickr - indeed, this coincidence would never have been possible without the World Wide Web AND this mass amateurization.

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