Rise of the Prosumer

In this modern age of all things digital, the media professional is in danger of becoming an endangered specie. With people producing content for the internet and other platforms their is an abundance of decent quality content that producers of all different types of media are tapping into.

This has ramifications for all modern media proffesionals whether they be a main stream media designer or freelance creating his product for a living. One such instance written in wired (2006) highlights a photographers current downfall in income because of the boom of prosumers creating content.

The National Health Museum has grand plans to occupy a spot on the National Mall in Washington by 2012, but for now its a fledgling institution with little money. "They were on a tight budget, so I charged them my nonprofit rate," says Harmel, who works out of a cozy but crowded office in the back of the house he shares with his wife and stepson. He offered the museum a generous discount: $100 to $150 per photograph. “Thats about half of what a corporate client would pay, he says. Menashe was interested in about four shots, so for Harmel, this could be a sale worth $600.

After several weeks of back-and-forth, Menashe emailed Harmel to say that, regretfully, the deal was off. “I discovered a stock photo site called istock photo, she wrote, which has images at very affordable prices. That was an understatement. The same day, Menashe licensed 56 pictures through iStockphoto for about $1 each.'

no one can compete with prices like that so people like harmil could go out of business sooneer rather than later.

The prosumer is having a major say in what is shown on the most prominent media platform of all the TV. Shows revolving around the numerous viral videos on-line are popping up at an advanced rate and the real attraction of these shows again is that these shows are cheap and cost only a presenters fee to produce.

one such show 'web junk 20' on VH1 was a surprise (even to the producer) hit that they have began looking at more and more viral content for new projects.

Production of cancelled TV shows have fell into the prosumer spectrum, amatuer film makers taking on producing short films based on their favourite cancelled programs.
The whedonverse (Wired 2006) is one area of prosumer film production, all of Joss Whedons cancelled TV programs (Buffy the vampire slayer, Angel and Firefly) have had the prosumer makover. with limited budgets and limited resources these shows have grown from being watched by the prosumer and freinds to 100,000 regular viewers, the show attracting this sought of viewing figures is Cherub and though it has links to the whedon production Angel it is has developed into a show in its own right.

The other two (Buffy and Firefly) have themselves been the subject of prosumer sequels such as Fluffy the english vampire slayer and into the black, these shows are the start of the prosumer influence on the media and the traditional media producer and could have repercussions in the way various media is funded and produced and may be the end of big budget productions and over inflated prices for various forms of content.

Google yourself

A recent report in the Sunday Times has highlighted a new trend for potential employers in there hiring process, using a search engine to find out information about there potential new employees.

"Mary-Anne sent a perfect CV, properly spell-checked, with her application for a cracking new job as a programmer at a leading computer systems firm. She had the skills, she had the grades, she had the experience from another blue-chip firm.

But when Mary-Anne'’s application arrived, according to a recruitment consultant working with her prospective employer, they ran her name through Google. Up popped something she had not mentioned on her CV. She'd been a contestant in two topless modeling competitions." Sunday Times (2006)

The reason she was refused an inteview was the company had so many applicants with similar strengths the selection process was difficult, so any thing that was a potential complicating factor was used to reduce the list to a select few.

Even if nothing turns up on Google it can have an adverse effect on your potential job application

“'There are people who come up with nothing on Google and I think that’s a bit weird,' said one headhunter with a top London firm". Sunday Times (2006)

This again shows the importance of having an on-line presence, if it is the difference between getting a job an not, your blog etc may become more important and should be more carefully thought about when you go to upload that picture of your self drunk at a family party

Google is a library of everything published by the individual on-line and if you have done something in life that may lead to later embarrassment no doubt Google will find it. So if Google can find it potential employers can to, so what to do next, Google yourself and see what you find.

Who's looking at your Space

My Space has been in the news again for all the wrong reasons, security of the users on the site has been put in jeopardy with known sex offenders being My Space users. Wired news reported the issue conducting investigations using the sex offenders register and running names through my space. Only conclusive matches were researched and the discoveries on their spaces were quite a surprise (or maybe not), the convicted sex offenders never mentioned nothing about their previous convictions and some had more than 400 'friends'.

Well, are the people at My Space doing enough about this, the ease of which the Wired news investigation team uncovered these individuals would say 'no', as the My Space team have recently come under fire for the lack of security for their members.

The main problem regarding My Space is the ease with which details about individuals can be recovered the members are willing to share quite personal details such as phone numbers address and pictures of themselves. This makes it a potential danger to the user as they could become a target for a sexual predator.

This would make worrying reading for any parent concerned with their son/daughter using My Space and should be My Spaces primary issue in the development of their product. With the recent appointment of Hemanshu (Hemu) Nigam to fill a new post of chief security officer it would seem they are doing just that.