Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Convergence Culture vs Quality of Content
In the days when we were forced to accept the entertainment that was produced exclusively by the different media, be it music, talk or television, one thing that was controlled was quality of content. In the reversal of production - as in the classroom example of top-down & bottom-up production - we have lost the reasonable expectation of quality in programming. I don't mean that all consumer produced content is without quality, but that the ability of the consumer to produce uncensored content has forced the "top-down" producers into a competition of less-is-more. Okay, so that is kind of vague. What I am trying to say is that, in the past, you had to have a certain amount of skill and preparation to be able to present a concept to the world. The finished product that we experienced was exceptional. Sometimes they would make you say 'now how did they do that?' or you would marvel at a persons adeptness at singing, or playing an instrument, or turning a clever phrase. Now, with any and everyone having access to the means of production, there is no quality control and so any wacky idea gets presented to the world. That is fine for the random content that is germane to instant access to distribution, however, because of this, media executives who are listening to their marketing executive who live by numbers and are always looking for trends to make money by have, in some cases, decided to trend with the wacky. I think that this trending is actually making traditional media shoot themselves in the foot. Ratings of television show today are far lower than they were in the past. The reason many people have deserted television for their other devises is because the new shows are not appealing. In some cases where nothing is left to the imagination - autopsies on camera for instance - programming gets downright disgusting and unsuitable for watching while you are eating dinner for instance. Sitcoms are weak and a lot of their content is just genuinely not funny. Hopefully, as the convergence of technology and content progresses, some attention might be re-focused on quality of content. It might just increase audience size.
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I see your point completely, and certainly there is much online that is not "quality" (although the question of who judges quality comes back up). But I also want to challenge a little your assertion that in the old days we had "quality." Battle of the Network Stars, anyone? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Network_Stars). Even top-down TV was not always that great.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, some top-down produced TV, like Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, The Wire, etc. are hailed by critics as some of the best TV ever. These shows coexist, though, alongside Intervention and Toddlers & Tiaras, and all the millions of cat videos on YouTube.
Anderson actually gets into this issue of quality in ch. 7--so more discussions like this are on the way!
"...programming gets downright disgusting and unsuitable for watching while you are eating dinner for instance."
ReplyDeleteHa, that line is funny to someone raised in the days when television was frowned on during dinner time. The tv set was turned off at the dinner hour. This was before the days of full couch potato surfing when all meals happen in front of the television set back when there was only one set in the house and it was in the living room or den. Back in the days when the family dining table was a place for discussion with dining.
Grace, you should meet my father! I mentioned in class that he was the prototypical couch potato, and we in fact did have the TV on during dinner! Every day of my life that I can remember, and I think in the 70s and 80s this was not very common. It was never very clear to me why he wanted it on, because it's not like we were paying 100% of attention to it, but my mother could never convince him to turn it off. Maybe it was soothing to have as a background?
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I disagree a little, because who is the one to say what is and what is not quality. I think that we are just getting to a point to where music is actually good. It is the best it has been. But now we all have a chance to submit our work, and I may think it is the best thing in the world, where you may think that my pitch is off, or the bass doesnt fit in, or what have you. YouTube videos have poor quality, but it gives us hours of addicting content. And we watch it because what makes it awesome, is how everything is at our fingetips and we have the power to choose what is good and what is not so good.
ReplyDeleteAs far as watching TV and eating dinner. I was raised that was a NoNo unless it was Friday night and you ordered pizza. But we are so guilty of abandoning our kitchen table to sit down at the very small and very short living room table to eat whatever food, whether messy or not, just so we can see the tv. It is a little sad actually,I wasted too much money on a kitchen table that is never used. and shows today are so uncensored compared to what they were before. Its like anyone under 13 probably shouldnt be watching tv at all. Pretty mind blowing when you think about it. But no one does anymore, tv has become apart of our lives and we have become the ultimate couch potatoes..
Well, I like some of the television that airs today. I am still very much a program girl who waits in anticipation every wednesday for the new episode of law and order to come on. It gives me a certain amount of structure and a little patience to wait on certain things...like my favorite shows. HOWEVER i do watch awful tv because it is simply an escape from my own crazy life. There are good and bad points to today's tv, but I think it was just the same back then...you just didn't have any options then
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