Step 3...

What will be my case study?
Audience response and contribution to new and digital media today

3 Texts that I will use to demonstrate this;
• Given audiences more rights e.g. OFCOM
If audiences are upset about certain content that has been published in the media, audiences have the right to complain and censor the product.
• UGC
Audiences have the ability to construct products online for free, for example they can upload videos on YouTube and get their message across. This has increased their participation as new and digital media offers better facilities. This illustrates that audiences are more activate and contributing towards new media.
• Citizen journalism
Moved away from traditional 1.0 web, where audiences go to producers to consume news. Now audience can go out their and make their own news. This is evident in many YouTube videos.

Social networking and relevant theories;
• Technological determination- nature of society has changed due to technology
• Sherry Turkle, Global village- small villages have been constructed behind the screen eg social networking sites
• Digital divide- technological facilities aren’t available to all countries, therefore they have no contribution e.g. internet only exists in ¼ of the planet which means that the rest are disprivleged.
• Globalisation- interconnectedness of societies
• Media 1.0 & 2.0- media comes to the audience. Audience goes to the media.
• Marxism- major institutions have power to manipulate the bourgeoisies and inject dominant ideologies into them.
• Mutualisation – audiences and producers have the ability to construct media products.

In the age of media;

How do audiences participate?

·         Blogs, forums, social networking sites, wikis

·         Audience revolution – democracy

·         Technological determination

Who is participating?

·         Gender differences – more women than men

·         Class differences – young people from middle class backgrounds

·         Digital divide – educational facilities

·         Early adopters – generation of technology

What are they doing?

·         Creating content

·         Few people are creating but consuming is always done

Media 2.0 save democracy?

·         Its empowered people

·         Creative media producers  have been driven by commercial imperatives

·         People are able to vote, for example 15 488 019million people voted on X Factor

·         Call in radio stations

·         Communicate ideas through social networking sites

·         Does this lead to a liberal plurist society – audiences influence media