Sunday, August 7, 2011

Mass Amateurization



Humans are by nature curious creatures and therefore, knowing what is going around one’s environment has always been a way of life, and sometimes survival. News and how it was spread was an important aspect of society. As the years went by, the primitive means of communication developed into more complex and accessible ways of transmitting information. What we know as media is the one of the inescapable aspects of life. We are constantly bombarded with different pictures, video, and sound. And one of the most significant parts of media is news.

With the rise of the internet and various forms of new technology, a new era of media emerged. Now people had access to all forms of media at the tips of their fingers. And it got easier and more importantly, cheaper. Internet World Stats states that over two million people around the world have access to the internet today. This is an incredible feat that the world population has amounted to, seeing as we relied on word of mouth and scribes to receive information or stories of any kind before the important invention of the printing press. With this open environment for information, people began to use the internet as a platform for their spreading their own views and works of media for the world to see. In her book “Here Comes Everybody”, Shirky perfectly stated, “The future presented by the internet is the mass ameturization of publishing and a switch from “Why publish this?” to “Why not?”” (p.59).

The concept of “mass ameturization” is the idea that people who aren’t considered professionals are contributing to the global media by self publishing stories, reviews, photography and other forms of media. Major arguments that people who frequently publish their own takes on current events online is that “Professionals see the world through a lens created by other members of their profession” (p.58). Basically calling professional journalists, photographers, etcetera closed minded.

Here’s an example of “mass ameturization”. My friend is a sports nut; he’s played baseball most of his life and you can always count on him knowing the latest sports news. He always kept up to date with ESPN and Sports Illustrated, but would complain that they didn’t cover all of what he wanted to see and they covered sports that he didn’t care about. So, he decided to start his own sports blog and he gained quite a following. He only posted things that he found newsworthy and others obviously enjoyed what he had to say. Shirky said, “The internet means you don’t have to convince anyone else that something is a good idea before trying it” (p.77). My friend blogged because he knew others shared his opinions on newsworthy sporting events, and he knew that he wasn’t writing for anyone but himself and these people. But what do people like my friend, who relatively easily publish things online and gain support, mean to the professional media industry?

Because just about “anyone in the developed world can publish anything anytime, and the instant it is published, it is globally available and readily findable. If anyone can be a publisher, then anyone can be a journalist” (p.71), it makes being a “professional” difficult to define. The internet isn’t a formal business or institution, so how could it present a problem to professionals? Well, as more and more people start to use the internet to spread their own ideas and get information from others who aren’t “professionals” either, the actual professionals lose an audience. However, many established newspapers have used the internet to appeal to a wider group by capitalizing on the blogging and providing other information that isn’t provided in the paper newspapers. As for the future of media professionals, there will probably always be certain professional organizations that will maintain a respectful and reliable backing, therefore will probably disappear. But, the future of the armatures is open and only time will tell for them.


Sources:

Shirky, Clay. "Chapter 3: Everyone Is A Media Outlet." Here Comes Everybody: the Power of Organizing without Organizations. New York: Penguin, 2009. Print.

"World Internet Usage Statistics News and World Population Stats." Internet World Stats - Usage and Population Statistics. 19 July 2009. Web. 06 Aug. 2011. .

1 comment:

  1. I as well agree with the idea that professionals aren't going to disappear competely. I believe mass amateurization cant hurt society as bad as is thought, rather it can only better it, as you stated. From what is said, it seems that you as well believe that mass amateurization can and wil elffect the longtail in a positive manner, by enhancing the use of YouTube and personal blogs.

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