How are you a ‘prosumer’? In regards to Ritzer’s model of presumption, consider how you produce and consume your own identity.

Prosumption as a whole, has many elements to explain and also question. It is basically production and consumption intertwined and in todays day and age, it has a lot to do with user generated content online. The term” prosumer” is linked to Alvin Toffler (1980) who argued that prosumption was “the first wave” and predominant in pre-industrial societies. A ‘second wave’ of marketization then came next which separated these two functions, which allowed for producers and consumers today. (Ritzer, G & Jurgensen, N, 2010, p 17)

Another view of Toffler is that contemporary society is moving towards towards a ‘third wave’ that now and diversely signals their reintegration and merging  of ‘the rise of the prosumer’ (Toffler, 1980: 265).

Prosumers are also known as “co-creators” (Prahalad and Ramaswamy 2004) Tapscott and Williams (2006) have noted that prosumers are part of a new wave of acceleration where businesses put consumers to work. This new trend is rapidly moving around the world and we see this in everyday life through the following examples that I do on a weekly basis. Without even realising we are prosumers.

-          -Getting petrol yourself at the petrol station

-         - Getting money out at an ATM

-         - Self Service at Coles and Safeway

-       -   Kmart/Officeworks printing your own photos

-          -Purchasing movie tickets online

-          -Online shopping

(Ritzer, G & Jurgensen, N, 2010, p 19)

Image from The Australian Newspaper, December 23, 2010

I decided to talk to my Dad about being a prosumer because I believe his insight would be somewhat different than mine and it quite certainly was. My dad is someone who believes the self service is a lazy invention because people cannot be bothered working at check outs anymore. He also has an opinion that the self service has caused a job cut at Safeway and Coles because they don’t need any staff to physically help anyone do it.

These new epidemics or now known as “the norm” have also been further expressed online. What was once provided to us on Web 1.0 is now less used because of Web 2.0. I will further explain this.

Web 1.0 (eg: Yahoo and Google) is provider generated, however today Web 2.0 is used by prosumers. Web 2.0 has aided in the development of prosumers as it facilitates the implosion of production and consumption. (Ritzer, G & Jurgensen, N, 2010, p 20)

The following examples are things that I do every day and produce and consume my own identity.

-       -   Facebook, where users create profiles including photos, videos, texts and interact with others.

-        -  Instagram- posting photos to the public and allowing anyone to use and post my photo.

-        -  Ebay- where consumers create the market and I can buy or sell anything.

Creative Instagram Photos, Hypenotice, Jan 7, 2013.

Something that I take pride and joy in is my Instagram Page. I am constantly posting photos of my newest purchase, a Saturday night out, food or of course “selfies”. There are always friends of mine that join the Instagram epidemic daily, purely because they want to see other people’s photos. I not only follow my friends on instagram, but also celebrites and clothing/beauty brands. Therefore by using Instagram, I am producing my own content but I am also using their app and getting them more active users.

One thing about being a prosumer on instagram is that my “online identity” means as much to me as my personal identity. I frequently go through past photos on my instagram and always delete ones that I look back on and think are “embarrassing”. I currently now have 79 photos as opposed to my 304 photos. There were so many that I deleted because I didn’t have enough likes. Am I the only one who is insecure because I didn’t get enough likes? No. As I scroll through my feed, about 10 out of 50 photos that were posted 10 minutes ago have been deleted. What does this say about our society.

REFERENCES:

Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010 ‘Production, Consumption, Prosumption: The nature of capitalism in the age of the digital ‘prosumer’, Journal of Consumer Culture, vol. 10 no. 1, pp 13-36.

Innovators or Pirates? Are all remixers innovators or thieves? Should you pay for every sample used from someone else?

Whilst any artist who makes music in my eyes is very talented, there is a difference between creating your own music and using someone else’s beats. This is where DJ’s come in. Most DJ’s remix other peoples songs and use their beats.

Whilst I believe that it is important to recognise the person whose sample of music you are using, there is also a need to pay for every sample used in a recording and piece of art. This is because the person created this “Art”, there is no right to say that someone else can re create it and claim it as their own. What if someone thought it was the second persons own and didn’t know about the first person who created it? It is a false connotation to their name.

Again, I believe it is very important to acknowledge the person whose sample you have used.

I will use a recent example to help explain this arguement. 

On Friday the 9th August 2013, FOX FM chatted to Jason DeRulo about his new song “Talk Dirty” feat 2 Chainz. The Radio hosts Fifi and Jules asked him about his "new sound". They kept praising him and telling him how much they love his song "Talk Dirty". 

VIDEO: Jason Derulo- “Talk Dirty” feat 2 Chainz (Official HD Music Video) 2013, youtube video, Jason Derulo, published August 7 2013.

Jason was quick to mention the beloved "trumpet" sound that has been the prime focus of his new song was in fact a sample from Balkan Beat Box  called "Hermetico". He even got Fox FM to play the original song . Have a listen below.

VIDEO: Balkan Beat Box-Hermetico (HD), youtube video, AlexxMusicDe, published July 4 2010.

 Although Derulo did acknowledge and let the world know that it was Balkan Beat Box's original music he used, I would not call him an innovator. He has still used someone else's idea and transformed it into his own song. He did not directly do a cover of the original song.

Another artist who constantly pirates and uses hooks of other peoples songs is American rapper, Flo-rida. He is not very popular as he is known amongst young people as the "song ruiner". 

When I watched the video "Everything is a remix part 3" a youtube series, i was quite taken back of some of the comments it made.

1.  "copying is how we learn, we can't introduce anything new until we are fluent in the language of our domain". 

2. "Nobody starts out original".

3." We need copying to build our knowledge and understanding". 

The video also shows us that transformation is taking an idea and giving it variations. It can be said that this is what artists do. 

In conclusion to my argument. I believe that whilst artists do use certain hooks and copy samples from peoples original songs, it is important to acknowledge and let the public know this is not your original song. It should be also important to compensate the person for using their original song. I wouldn't exactly call remixers thieves unless they are not acknowledging the person. 

REALITY TV- ARE WE STILL WESTERNISED?

With one click of a mouse and one push of a button, it is so easy to see what a celebrity is doing in their everyday lives. Whether it be on their social media pages, in magazines or on TV, it is quite easy to keep up with celebrities. A concept invented by Marshall McLuhan suggests that “the world is unified through the use of media technologies”. He calls this “a global village”.

Something that stands out for me as a movement that has influenced the way I view a culture other than my own is Reality TV. I believe that McLuhan’s concept of the global village is something that Reality TV has established with society.

The idea of “Modernity” was established throughout the 19th and 20th centuries through technology, science and industrial/business/finance. There was one belief that stood out to me from that point in time that I can bring reality TV into. “The west was superior to non western societies”. 

My point is, the most successful TV shows are still western based. For example, Keeping Up With The Kardashians (USA), Geordie Shore (UK), Survivor (USA).

Watching these TV shows give me an insight into the characters lifestyles. If I never watched them, I wouldn’t know anything about that particular culture. Whilst I do believe most reality TV shows are fake, scripted and entertainment based, you can learn a lot about people and their lives which I believe is interesting. 

Using Keeping Up With The Kardashians as an example, the family is American but also Armenian. They are always using Armenian words, eating Armenian food and talking about their traditions and culture. From watching the show, I have learnt about this Armenian culture that otherwise I may never have even known about. 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2012/04/24/keeping-up-with-the-kardashians-2015-e-pays-40-million-for-three-more-years/

Another example through the Kardashian’s show is America in general. The places I have seen through this show for example, locations/shops/restaurants in Miami, Las Vegas, New York and Los Angeles has given me the chance to visit the same places when I just recently went to America. I visited certain places the family went on the show. Again, without viewing the show, I may not have even known about these places.

The last example I will use from the show is the celebrity lifestyle. Seeing the girls and especially Kim’s hectic appearances and endorsement lifestyle has really shown me how hard it would be to be in that position; constant camera’s, lights flashing, no escaping the spotlight. Although yes they do enjoy it and have chosen the life, it has definitely given the rest of the world an insight into the life we so often love to hear about and watch.

http://www.kimkardashianfan.net/e-announces-season-8-of-keeping-up-with-the-kardashians/,

The idea of Postmodernism was influenced by anything that was against modernism. Therefore enter many cultural aspects such as technology, music, film, art, literature from that particular time. 

Whilst reality Television and television for that matter began after the postmodern movement was spread, have we really ever left modernism is the question.

REFERENCES:

S, Srivastava, B, Warren, C, Moore . 2013. Globalisation and its Contexts. https://d2l.deakin.edu.au/d2l/le/content/143750/viewContent/1942038/View 

MEDIA REFERENCES:

E! Announces Season 8 of "Keeping Up With The Kardashians", http://www.kimkardashianfan.net/e-announces-season-8-of-keeping-up-with-the-kardashians/, accessed 5th August.

The Kardashians 2015: E! Pays $40 million for 3 more years, http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2012/04/24/keeping-up-with-the-kardashians-2015-e-pays-40-million-for-three-more-years/, Accessed 5th August