Produsage

Bruns explores the concept of 'produsage' as a model for understanding the collaborative content creation offered in today’s information environment and the rise of the informed an active consumer or user. He defines 'produsage' as an interactive culture that sees a shift from teams as producers to the collaborative engagement of online users in a shared project. Further, he recognises that 'produsers' together openly participate in the construction of online and social spaces such as YouTube, Wikipedia and collaborative citizen journalism sites such as All Voices.

The inception of online video-sharing website Youtube, which allows users to distribute creative content and participate through ranking videos, reconfirms the ideals fundamental to ‘produsage’: breaking down the barriers between producers and consumers (Bruns, 2007: 2). A parody of One Direction's 'What makes you beautiful' by Fitzy & Wippa reveals the capabilities to re-use and rework existing content into new work. By drawing on the lyrics of One Direction's music, and fusing it with their own singing and musical style, the youtube video creates a new work. Through these lenses, we can see the new avenues and new-found levels of control provided to the public to develop their own creative content.

Wikipedia an online encyclopedia allows any web user to constantly contribute, update and rework pre-existing entries made by other ‘produsers’. With its slogan ‘the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit’, the site encourages users to contribute to its informational sphere.

All Voices, which allows users to collect and reproduce articles from anywhere in the web onto the site. Bruns states that these open source sites employ its users as journalists and commentators to freely commentate and provide supplementary video or audio content, which once again disrupts the once hierarchal realms occupied by mainstream media elites.

Sources:
http://www.allvoices.com/
http://produsage.org/node/94
http://www.onedirectionmusic.com/au/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJO3ROT-A4E
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Introduction