Motivations of News Produsers

Copenhagen.
I've made the trip to Ballerup again for the second day of COST298 (my last - tomorrow I've got to travel back to Germany). We begin with Ike Picone, whose interest is in user motivations for participation in produsing the news. Ike begins by extending the produsage model to a two-dimensional structure (from production to usage, and from passive to active; 'old media' are therefore largely passive and comsumptive, while many Web media forms also remain consumptive, but are more active (passive and active could also be translated here into 'lean back' and 'lean forward', then).

Ike highlights the need to further examine the user or produser in such participatory, Web 2.0 projects. His project examined the motivations of various users - from lead users to casual participants -, and developed a number of outlines of the wants and needs of these different groups. Lead users act due to the loss of impeding values (i.e. because they now have the opportunity to work outside the traditional system); they also act out of passion, and experience self-fulfilment in the process. Casual produsers acted out of a social reflex (responding to their image of the public they have gained by self-publishing); they are involved, and gain self-confidence. Mere participants in this were interested, if at all, in articulating their opinions with the opinions of others; they may want to learn something, or just have fun, and in such cases seek sources of high or low authority, respectively.

But what determines these different levels of engagement? Ike suggests a social dimension (where participation is driven by the experience of sociality), a substantive dimension (driven by the content itself), and a personal dimension here (driven by personal fulfilment). On this point, Ike notes that there is a substantial difference between 'mere consumption' and even the beginnings of produsage (i.e. active and visible contribution); the step towards making even the smallest contribution is a significant one, and marks a substantial shift in self-perception.

Technorati : COST298, citizen journalism, motivation, participation, produsage
Del.icio.us : COST298, citizen journalism, motivation, participation, produsage