Prosumer Capitalism
Friday, October 16, 2009 by Simon
I have been contemplating the rise of prosumerism in a capitalist world and have come up an interesting point of view. Can prosumerism be effective in a capitalist environment? Youtube is a site designed for prosumerism, however most of the content is mass produced media. I'm talking about music videos, pirated movies and television programmes. It is well known that youtube is the most popular video site on the internet but perhaps its popularity is the downfall of its ideals. Sure initially most of the videos were produced by users but as its popularity grew, the balance shifted.
I guess my point of view is that a site can no longer stay true to its idealistic prosumer aims because as soon as its popularity grows it turns into a haven for people trying to watch movies for free, or for artists to get their songs heard and videos watched. Youtube started out as a prosumer site but was quickly jumped onto by a large variety of different media forms. Of course this is not policed as it brings in large amounts of money to the creators of the site. In a capitalist world prosumerism is limited by its potential to reap economic rewards.
I guess my point of view is that a site can no longer stay true to its idealistic prosumer aims because as soon as its popularity grows it turns into a haven for people trying to watch movies for free, or for artists to get their songs heard and videos watched. Youtube started out as a prosumer site but was quickly jumped onto by a large variety of different media forms. Of course this is not policed as it brings in large amounts of money to the creators of the site. In a capitalist world prosumerism is limited by its potential to reap economic rewards.