Matthew Mckoy
Project #2 Memes/Mashups
English 212
Dr. Carter
06/08/14
Participatory Culture
Personally, I have come to a conclusion that participatory culture entitles more than an exact definition. This culture consists of a group of people playing a role that will eventually accomplish a goal. For example, lets look at a football team, there are eleven people on each side of the ball at all times. Each person has a specific job that they need to perform every time they are In the game and in some instances, players share the same role but in a different spot on the field. In the end, if everyone does their specific job when they are on the field their team will be successful. This is the same as participatory culture, if everyone does their specific job then positive results will occur. There are some parts of this culture that are seen more than others like a speaker and a researcher. Most of the time, people rarely see what researchers do and how big of a role they play. Everyone always hears a speaker, speak and will assume that they are doing all of the work, but in actuality every person apart of the message is just as important as the speaker. All of the roles are important because they work together to accomplish goals. Henry Jenkins, a professional in participatory culture, speaks about this specific example saying “Members believe that their contributions matter. Where members feel some degree of social connection with one another (Jenkins 2014).”In some way this is parallel to my example of a football team and everyone participating, but in this case it is through media and basically volunteer work. It’s like everyone giving a little here and there but all of it is important. On his website he makes multiple blogs talking about important things like Transforming Television and Media and other important things to discuss. He makes these blogs, in my personal perspective, to plant new ideas in people’s minds. Through planting these ideas the participatory scene establishes and the rest of the work relies on the participants who believe in the ideas. Jenkins also refers to how we are the ones who control media " Participatory culture describes a world where everyone participates, where we take media into our own hands, where we have the capacity, often to produce and share media (Jenkins 2014).” The way he uses it in his context, he is talking about media and the entire world. He tells us that through media and participatory culture, we basically are creating our own entertainment. In major relation to Henry Jenkins, Ben Huh, is another professional in participatory culture. These two are extreme experts when it comes to participatory culture. Ben Huh is actually the creator of Cheezburger which is a website that brings Internet culture to mainstream and delivers all of the memes and mashups, this where participatory culture begins its foundation. Memes are created and uploaded to this website and through others participation remixes and other things are made throughout the world. On his Blog site, he does the same thing as Henry Jenkins and gives people ideas and leads them in the right direction to start a movement. When visiting his website you see multiple blogs, just as Jenkins, and then you see a list of life goals. I didn’t really understand why they were up there, until I began reading them and asking myself the question “ have I done any of this?” in a sense he was making me want to explore these goals. Both Henry Jenkins and Ben Huh have made incredible contributions to the Participatory Culture and are key pieces to some important movements.
Project #2 Memes/Mashups
English 212
Dr. Carter
06/08/14
Participatory Culture
Personally, I have come to a conclusion that participatory culture entitles more than an exact definition. This culture consists of a group of people playing a role that will eventually accomplish a goal. For example, lets look at a football team, there are eleven people on each side of the ball at all times. Each person has a specific job that they need to perform every time they are In the game and in some instances, players share the same role but in a different spot on the field. In the end, if everyone does their specific job when they are on the field their team will be successful. This is the same as participatory culture, if everyone does their specific job then positive results will occur. There are some parts of this culture that are seen more than others like a speaker and a researcher. Most of the time, people rarely see what researchers do and how big of a role they play. Everyone always hears a speaker, speak and will assume that they are doing all of the work, but in actuality every person apart of the message is just as important as the speaker. All of the roles are important because they work together to accomplish goals. Henry Jenkins, a professional in participatory culture, speaks about this specific example saying “Members believe that their contributions matter. Where members feel some degree of social connection with one another (Jenkins 2014).”In some way this is parallel to my example of a football team and everyone participating, but in this case it is through media and basically volunteer work. It’s like everyone giving a little here and there but all of it is important. On his website he makes multiple blogs talking about important things like Transforming Television and Media and other important things to discuss. He makes these blogs, in my personal perspective, to plant new ideas in people’s minds. Through planting these ideas the participatory scene establishes and the rest of the work relies on the participants who believe in the ideas. Jenkins also refers to how we are the ones who control media " Participatory culture describes a world where everyone participates, where we take media into our own hands, where we have the capacity, often to produce and share media (Jenkins 2014).” The way he uses it in his context, he is talking about media and the entire world. He tells us that through media and participatory culture, we basically are creating our own entertainment. In major relation to Henry Jenkins, Ben Huh, is another professional in participatory culture. These two are extreme experts when it comes to participatory culture. Ben Huh is actually the creator of Cheezburger which is a website that brings Internet culture to mainstream and delivers all of the memes and mashups, this where participatory culture begins its foundation. Memes are created and uploaded to this website and through others participation remixes and other things are made throughout the world. On his Blog site, he does the same thing as Henry Jenkins and gives people ideas and leads them in the right direction to start a movement. When visiting his website you see multiple blogs, just as Jenkins, and then you see a list of life goals. I didn’t really understand why they were up there, until I began reading them and asking myself the question “ have I done any of this?” in a sense he was making me want to explore these goals. Both Henry Jenkins and Ben Huh have made incredible contributions to the Participatory Culture and are key pieces to some important movements.
In this short video Henry Jenkins is getting interviewed about participatory culture. He shares with us the possibilities that can come about with the youth of today and their interactions with participatory culture.