Defamation in Citizen Journalism

Perez Hilton is one of the most notorious gossip bloggers on the Internet, his opinionated rants about a diverse range of celeberities, has often gotten him in to serious trouble with people suing him for defamation of character; just one hurdle that bloggers and citizen journalists must go through to get their message across.

Blogs and citizen journalism are two very different things, blogs 'provide commentary or news on a particular subject' (Wikipedia), i.e. Perez Hilton's blog is primarily about gossip; whereas citizen journalism is also centred on news values, commenting upon recent events, usually with a political slant. Axel Bruns states in Produsage: Towards a Broader Framework for User-Led Content Creation, that citizen journalism ranges from "individually published news and politics blogs to collaboratively written and edited sites such as Indymedia, the technology news site Slashdot, or the Korean opinion leader OhmyNews".

Bruns goes on to state that "citizen journalism fundamentally disrupts the industrial journalism model by employing its users as journalists and commentators". Citizen journalism is such a prominent form of media that is has already shown an "impact on political processes in the United States, Europe, Korea, and many other countries around the world" (Bruns 2008).

However, it must be noted that to convey the messages that they wish to communicate to their readers, citizen journalists risk being sued for defamation. Defamation, means to "injure another's reputation by any slanderous communication, written or oral" (Dictionary.com). In my opinion, when citizen journalists are reporting on recent news events to do with entertainment, sports, finance and politics they have to damage the reputation and character of a person to convey the message in which they wish to communicate to their readers. For instance, if a citizen journalist portrayed a particluar political leader, celebrity or sports person in a certain way, then they may risk being sued for defamation.

In my personal opinion, citizen journalists have the right to free speech and to express their opinion of a person, group or organisation in any way they feel is necessary to get their point across. Citizen journalists should not feel that whenever they write an article they are at risk of being sued just for stating their opinion. Professional journalists do not get sued for defamation, however, it can be said that they are not sued because they do not usually have a bias; and, if there is then it is quite usually the company they work for who are sued.

References

Bruns, A. 2008. Produsage: Towards a Broader Framework for User-Led Content Creation.

A Week in the Open Source Software World

Having been a loyal and avid user of Internet Explorer for most of computer driven life, using the free software format of Mozilla Firefox was a different experience. Axel Bruns states that 'few users of computer software, few users of the Web are likely to be even remotely aware of the extent to which their experience of computer-mediated communication is made possible by open source software technologies' (2008, 39). A notion that i totally agree with, as i had not realised the scope of open source software and the possibilities that it entails.

The ability to only have one window open but have 6 or 7 different tabs astounded me, it may seem funny to some, but as a new user of the open source software of Firefox it was all new to me and the potential of open source software.

Furthermore, 'the Firefox Web browser, which now commands a small but significant portion of its market (at present, it holds upwards of 15% of the browser market, making a notable impression on the formerly overwhelming market dominance of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer)' (2008, 39); further displaying the fact that more and more people are realising the innovativeness of Firefox.

Spending a week using Firefox instead of my trusty old friend Internet Explorer, I found that Firefox is somewhat more reliable than Internet Explorer. It does have its downfalls, however, when having a numerous amount of tabs open; caution should be taken when closing down individual tabs as I found one day as i accidentally closed down the whole program, for instance, closing down sites that had taken a laborious time to find and would have to find again.

This is probably an amateur mistake or an error a computer illerate person would make. Although, I am neither computer illerate or an amateur at navigating my way through the Net, it provides a refreshing insight into how technology is changing so rapidly in front of our eyes that even the most skillful of Net surfers can be thrown by the ever changing technology of the Internet.

Bruns mentions in Open Source Software Development: Probabilistic Eyeballs that 'open source development...has played a crucial role in ensuring and protecting the unity of the Internet as a global network...' (2008, 39); therefore, new open source softwares are ensuring and protecting the unity of the Internet as a global status, as they provide different ways for users to access the Internet eg. Mozilla Firefox.

References

Bruns, Axel. (2008). Open Source Software Development: Probabilistic Eyeballs in Bruns, Axel, Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and Beyond: From Production to Produsage, New York: Peter Lang, pp.37-68.

The 'Produsers' of YouTube

LonelyGirl15, Chris Crocker (the "LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!" guy) and Esmee Denters are just some of the people on YouTube who have made it big and have become some of the biggest produsers on YouTube at the moment, along with some of the other top 10 contributors on YouTube who add content regularly are all content providers and they share their content with users all over the world daily; making them produsers.

I must clarify now that I am not, and probably never will be a produser of YouTube, the idea of adding and sharing content about my personal life to millions of people, strangers or not, quite simply freaks me out. People like Chris Crocker become famous from sharing their hopes, dreams and fears and letting down their guard, and therefore being susceptible to judgement and criticism. Millions of people like Chris Crocker are doing this daily, adding home videos of friends and family doing something stupid, homemade fan videos of bands and celebrities or even just sharing their views on a topic. The most recent YouTube video that I have watched, which is becoming increasingly popular is of a 3 year old girl who is videoed explaining the storyline of Star Wars IV, this video has earned this little girl and her father 7,463,725 views, therefore becoming active produsers of YouTube by simply sharing this cute little girl's explanation of a Star Wars movie.

The worldwide phenomenon that is YouTube, literally has millions of subscribers and new produsers who are constantly 'adding niche content' (Noveau Niche) in video form, these produsers are deciding what they want to see and if you don't like what content they are adding, then simply, create, add and share your own content. Axel Bruns mentions in his article, "The Future is User-Led: The Path Towards Widespread Produsage", that the American magazine TIME 'broke with its long-standing tradition of nominating one outstanding public figure as 'person of the year', and instead selected 'you': all of us who are active in collaborative online spaces.' Therefore, proving that YouTube celebrities like LonelyGirl15, Chris Crocker and Esmee Denters are active in online collaboration.

Bruns states in Produsage: A Working Definition that 'produsers engage not in a traditional form of content production, but are instead involved in produsage - the collaborative and continuous building and extending of existing content in pursuit of further improvement'. This definition of produsage and produsers, completely relates to YouTube as content users are constantly building and extending existing content to better a users channel, to gain more views, comments and subscriptions.

Furthermore, the members of YouTube, that choose to remain users, i.e. users like me, who simply view content and do not add to it; are "simply utilising the 'products' of the produsage process as substitutes for industrial products, are always already potential produsers themselves" (Bruns 2007); and therefore, users become produsers. The image below reveals this as we are viewing content as users, but in turn we are becoming produsers as "their (users) very patterns of usage become direct inputs to the continuing processes of produsage" (Bruns 2007).

In summary, it does not matter whether you are user of YouTube or an active produser of YouTube we are all contributing in our own way to the content, and the success of YouTube as a worldwide content sharing site.


References
Trend Watching. 2005. Noveau Niche Part 1. http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/nouveau_niche.htm
Bruns, A. 2007. Produsage: A Working Definition. http://produsage.org/files/The%20Future%20Is%20User-Led%20(PerthDAC%202007).pdf

User-Generated Content - The Phrase of the Year

Tyson Ibele is the new face of user-generated content, and he is also only 19 years old. Hailing from Minneapolis in America, Ibele won a contest on the cable network Current TV for its first viewer-created ad message. Ibele created an ad for Sony, which featured a robot transforming into various Sony products, such as a stereo, a flat-screen television, a DVD player, digital camera and then finally a portable PlayStation machine.

Current is a website, very similar to YouTube, but it specialises in news, their motto, 'You Make The News...We Put It On Television', speaks to its users who generate content "for roughly one-third of its programming, from fashion features to foreign documentaries" (Bosman 2006). Current operates under "the theory that its programming will be more relevant if its audience, primarily 18 to 34 year olds, have a voice in creating it. If the audience is interested, there is less of a risk that they will tune out in favor of other entertainment like the Internet and video games" (Bosman 2006).

This notion of user generated content is fast becoming the phrase of the year as, Julie Bosman from The New York Times writes in her article, An Agency's Worst Nightmare: Ads Created by Users, states that user-generated content "owes part of its popularity to the younger age group's increasing agility at working with video and audio tools at home to mimic what television studios and advertising agencies do for hefty fees".

Simlarly, user-generated content touches upon, the notion of do-it-yourself media. Websites like Current, IndyMedia and Internet Archive are all a part of DIY media. These sites are primarily user-generated and rely on their users to add and collaborate content, much like YouTube, however the sites centre on specific topics, as there is a community for everything in the DIY media world. For instance, YouTube is primarily a video sharing website with any type of content available; however, Current primarily focuses on news and their target audience of 18-34 year olds, people who Al Gore, former U.S. vice president and co-founder of Current, "want to learn about the world in a voice they recognise and a view they recognise as their own". Therefore, letting the users generate the content was the only way for Current to succeed, otherwise it just would have become another YouTube with no specific focus or aim.

User-generated content is fast becoming the phrase of the year, and quite possibly the phrase of the decade as social networking sites like MySpace, Bebo and Flickr heavily rely on their users constantly adding content.

Reference
Bosman, J. 2006. An Agency's Worst Nightmare: Ads Created By Users. The New York Times. May 11, 2006. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/11/business/media/11adco.html?ei=5090&en=0488b91d695a5873&ex=1305000000&adxnnl=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1210756644-Cu0l+HQU1awGW4SqkQErjA

Johnson, T. 2007. Al Gore joins Emmy Parade. Variety. September, 13, 2007. http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117971953.html?nav=news&categoryid=1983&cs=1

Online Communities

'Terry Flew states, Howard Rheingold's definition of virtual (online) communities as 'social aggregations that emerge from the Net when enough people carry on those public discussions [using the Internet] long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace' (Flew 2005, 62).



Therefore, the online community is a new way for people to communicate with, participate with and share content with other people all around the world; therefore, creating online relationships through the online communities, just like in the real world. This idea of online communities came from 'the building of social networks and social capital; the sharing of knowledge and information; and the enabling of new modes of democratic participation in public life.' (Flew 2005, 62)
One of the biggest benefits for online communities is that they are associated with fields of interest that are usually neglected by mainstream media. Communities like Bebo, MySpace and Facebook are communities that are solely to do with people who social network. With social network communities, users can become fans of musicians, comedians and filmmakers.

These online communities, like social networking sites, gaming sites, and music sharing sites all have a vast range of benefits of participating in and prescribing to.

The online communities opens up the door to new forms of personal and community identity. The notion of being able to create a new persona that is void of physical attributes, geographic location, race and gender. Therefore, creating a community that has no judgment over what clothes you wear or how much money you have. The online communities are created for free expression and for people to use their voice and speak about topics which are close to them.


I am an avid user of both MySpace and Facebook. Providing content about myself for others to comment on and share with others. For example, I add a song on MySpace a user of MySpace and a friend of mine view's my page hears the song, likes it, and then goes to the band's MySpace page. Therefore, sharing new content through these online communities widens the audiences of all users of MySpace, as we collect, share, create and manage content.

The online communities are a move from participating culture to collective intelligence; therefore, by sharing, collecting, creating and managing content, we as users are a collective intelligence.

As the online community is a move from participating culture to a collective intelligence, the collective (the users) must adhere to certain rules and create a trust within the community. This trust is what defines an online community, as users must trust one another without even knowing the person, a part from their online friendship.

The online community is the way of the future as Terry Flew argues that 'online and offline communities can no longer exist in separate spheres but rather the online world had become embedded in our offline lives'.


References:
Flew, Terry. (2005). Virtual Cultures in Flew, Terry, New media : an introduction, Melbourne: OUP, pp.61-82.

Networking People

Social network sites, like MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Bebo, just to name a few; are full of people networking to their friends, family, business associates, clients and their bosses. Networking makes the world go round.

Axel Bruns mentions in his podcast, 'Networked People' (http://www.slidesharenet/Snurb/kcb201-week-5-slidecast-networked-people), that there are three levels of understanding technologies.

Firstly, technologies as tools, for example the physical network of the Internet.

Secondly, technologies as contexts of use, for instance browsing, bookmarking and blogging. Therefore, creating content, sharing it with other users and managing this content.

Lastly, technologies as systems of knowledge, in other words how we create meaning from the physical network of the Internet and how we create meaning from the contexts of use.

Bruns states that the 'contexts of use and systems of knowledge are (in part) constructed by us as we use technologies - technologies are socially constructed'. Therefore, technologies are being constructed by the users; and when a user adds content, shares content, manages and creates content, then as users we are transforming these technologies to suit our social networking lifestyle.

Bruns goes on to mentions in his podcast that the way we operate as networked people is due to the system of knowledge, that also incorporates the context of use, when it comes to people networking:

Browsing - recipitents of information

Bookmarking - managing the information

Blogging - creating the information

By employing this system of knowledge when it comes to networking people it reveals the idea that we are all sharing, managing and creating content, to further our own knowledge, and to also further our knowledge of these technologies.

As networked people we are able to reach information at the tips of our fingers and therefore be exposed to an abundance of information, knowledge and meaning.