In the first chapter of Convergence Culture, Jenkins talks extensively about “Knowledge Communities” which in this instance are message boards for the television show Survivor. This concept of a knowledge community, while not new, is now a force to be reckoned with due to the sheer number of participants allowed by the internet. The amount of time and energy expended by these fans is astounding, and all for a TV show. What would happen if this many people were tenacious about something that really mattered? Some of these fans are genius researchers and detectives, while others are theorists and technology gurus. If this collective genius could be applied to any number of real world problems, I believe we would see very good results. But, as Jenkins points out, these people are just doing this for fun. So I guess when it comes to applying to real life, It becomes work. Darn.
Jesse
I agree that most things on the internet and TV are all in fun and shudnt be taken seriously they get paid to do this wen it is taken more seriously
ReplyDeleteKnowledge communities of TV shows illustrate that people tend to participate actively on the web, when they are emotionally involved or when they want to express personal interest, for example when it comes to commenting on the eighth season's last episode of Entourage on HBO's Facebook page or their expectations of the upcoming season of their favorite TV series. Dedication does not cost a thing when you can engage in online discussions from your living room. But on the other side, it is remarkable, which risks Iranian or Chinese protesters or the demonstrators in Northern Africa recently took to organize resistence and speak up against oppression, while using media 2.0 channels of communication. I assume there is a certain margin, at which people can become political activists, collectively striving for real changes in their environment.
ReplyDeleteYou can be anybody you want to be on the internet...a doctor of any form, scientist, theorist etc etc....who knows who these people are. That's the downside to the internet, you have to question the source.
ReplyDeleteAll I mean is these people are doing the skilled work of detectives, theorists etc. most likely they are just regular folks doing it for a hobby, but it's no less astounding.
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