In both chapters, Everybody is a Media Outlet and Publish, then Filter, Clay Shirkey looks at mass amateurization as something that was brought upon by the internet, but more specifically the invention of “blogs.” Shirkey examines and describes the term mass amateurization in the former chapter in its most common way, when masses are allowed to become self-published and intervene on the usual media distribution with their own stories or information on a story that just broke. When this happens, things become watered down and it is harder to determine what a media professional may look like. On the other hand, these masses of people may also improve a professional’s work with information that was not available to them initially. In Everybody is a Media Outlet Shirkey says, “Just as Evan Guttman benefited from the expert knowledge of his readers, the bloggers benefited from Sebasta’s deep knowledge of America’s racist past, particularly of Lott’s history of praise for the same,” (Shirkey, 63). With this mass amateurization comes this new two way form of communication between professional and readers. The professional has become dependent on his/her readers, in a sense, with one improving the other with details that may not have been known.
 |
| Trends on Twitter |
With the mass amateurization that is spoke about in chapter three of Shirkey, the news cycle
has been drastically been transformed. Aside from the watering down of the news that we see addressed on the morning news, companies are focusing more on what consumers are gathering toward or what they believe would be likely to rise up through all of the clutter that is being constantly published by everyone. This is what I would like to call “fluff stories” like a segment that focuses on one man’s efforts to consume Chipotle for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for an entire month. It is a story that does not benefit society or make us aware of what is going on in our neighborhood, country, or in another part of the world. But with the current scale of mass amateurization that is taking place, there might be more coverage and interviews of the man who ate Chipotle for a month, than the recent bombings in the Middle East that hit American relief forces.
Shirkey’s Publish, then Filter shows the clutter that has been thrown on to the
field with everyone being able to publish whatever they wish. Publish, then Filter refers to the process that we are undergoing with the masses being active participants on social networks and message boards. What is said or shared on these communication sites is considered public and
filtered only after we have published them. This is a reverse of broadcasted media that must undergo multiple processes of filtering before it is viewed by the masses. The old system was a one way road that kept media and consumers completely separated and one dependent on another. A consumer can now become a distributor if (s)he does not feel satisfied with the original distributor. “Most of what gets created on any given day is just ordinary stuff of life but now it’s done in the same medium as professionally produced material,” (Shirkey, 86). With the open gate of the medium it becomes harder to figure out what is everyday stuff and what is professionally generated material. A short video produced and shared by a friend or multiple friends may obscure your line between what a professional and what a friend has created. This also goes to refer how people can become famous from this “publish then filter” process. All it takes is for the right person to see something they have done or their trash floating beyond everyone else’s trash.
The subject of mass amateurization is pushed even further
with Henry Jenkins’ Why Heather Can Write.
With major pop culture trends like Harry
Potter, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings,
and so many more there are huge followings that begin to create their own
characters, character backgrounds, worlds, and language. This is the epitome of
mass amateurization as I have described it. For someone who has little to no
knowledge of a fandom it would become confusing as to what is official and what
was created by a fanfiction group.
 |
| Vimeo |
These readings both suggest that the creative fields are
going to ultimately become more competitive and require more from
writers/journalists to make something that is capable of standing against all
of the clutter that is being produced by everyone daily. For journalists it will
mean that they must undergo a constant cycle of filter, publish, and filter.
Authors/storytellers are going to be pressed to produce content that is more
grand and capable of letting fanfiction groups expand the world on their own. Both
professions will be faced with higher expectations from the general public
since the general public is constantly being fed better ideas and content.
1. Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where old and New Media Collide, New York: New York UP, 2006. Print.
2. Shirky, Clay. Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organization. New York: Penguin, 2008. Print.
No comments:
Post a Comment