Week 9: User Content and the Network

In class, we’ve examined the way that technology has radically changed the landscape for communication. In fact, what technology is available is dictating what can be said—today, you only have so many characters to get your point across.

In Chouliaraki’s examination of the symbolic power of media, we reached an interesting point in our discussion of citizen-generated information as a part of a larger communication framework. In the media industry, this term is user-generated content. Rather than focusing completely on the network society, I’d like to examine where UGC fits into the communication network.

The question posed in class was if it was possible to take away the immediacy of direct testimonials, or if UGC would become irrelevant. I would say that UGC is no flash in the pan.

In Chouliaraki’s analysis, user generated content is present in both ordinary and extraordinary news. It presents information to the world by involving those who use it—thus the term “user-generated.” People become active in their absorption of news—witnesses rather than observers. There’s a connection to the information being dispersed, because users are contributors, creators, in the process. The predominant use of this medium has been in emergency or breaking-news situations, such as the protests by students in Iran or monks in Burma.

User-generated content was touted as the “new wave” of journalism, and in many ways as a life vest for the flailing journalism industry, which faced falling revenues and cutbacks and laid off 1/3 of newsrooms.

Because of this emphasis I think that most people considered it a type of band-aid on a gaping wound, rather than a valid application of new technologies to further the communication industry. But in reality, the value of user-generated content is what will keep it a strong force in the journalism industry, and by extension, I think, communication in general. We need look no further than YouTube to see the success of this kind of content.

This concept ties into the idea of symbolic power—but in this case, symbolic power of the user. While they are not the ones who control the technological framework of the network, they are actively involved in controlling the content. In many cases, citizen and user-content used by news organizations is faster and more accurate than traditional sources, and more easily corrected.

One of the first examples of this was during the Mumbai attacks in 2008—in which citizen journalists helped make sense of the confusion following the terrorist bombings through social media sites, such as Twitter and Flickr.

The greatest problem with the idea of UGC, and its use in mainstream communication, is the tendency toward a frenzied approach to coverage, which can be overwhelming. Citizen media can be seen as a hype machine, which follows along with traditional news outlets. But their very existence enables them to be on the frontlines as watchdogs of those traditional outlets. Today, it is in the blogosphere that a wave of protest gains strength, leading to criticisms of the established communication organizations like CNN, Google and Facebook.