wordwhacker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
wordwhacker) wrote2008-11-07 12:13 pm
wordwhacker) wrote2008-11-07 12:13 pm
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Media Living: Quickie update about Paticipatory Journalism
I thought I would have more to say about this week's reading, but I am realizing something as I go through it: I don't really participate in participatory journalism. I know that it happens. I am also sometimes directed to political blogs and mainstream news sources with copious comments by other internet users - which, I guess, is really a big part of the whole idea of participatory journalism anyway. Even though my livejournal friends page is not entirely politically-geared, they can essentially morph into political discussion spaces, drawing in mainstream and blogosphere sources at the drop of a hat and spreading them meme-style.
Which I guess is a way of expressing - maybe even expanding upon - the introduction to participatory journalism that comes up in this week's reading from The Media Center:
"Participatory journalism flourishes in social media — the interpersonal communication that takes place through email, chat, message boards, forums — and in collaborative media — hybrid forms of news, discussion and community."
What I'm suggesting, I guess, is that the boundaries of participatory journalism are really easily blurred into the space that one could more generally call "participatory culture."
I don't have a lot else to say, but I wanted to also comment specifically on the weaknesses of "discussion group" settings:
"Weaknesses: Sometimes forums are too open, easily garnering flip, reactive comments. Active, large forums can get noisy, with so many posts from so many members, it's hard to determine what information is meaningful or useful. In addition, some moderated forums require each post to be pre-approved before it appears online, slowing down and smothering the conversation."
My comment is generally an emphatic YEP! This is, in a nutshell, why I don't go out of my way to participate in political (and other forms of) discussion online. In my last blog post I talked about the difficulty of navigating in a forum populated by thousands of active participants. And re: the modding business, I have heard some interesting and frightening horror stories about having to moderate big-name forums. Though this wasn't so much about conversation-smothering as reigning-in-the-hatemongering, which is a definite up-side to forum moderation. (I should point out that this reading does also focus on the positive aspects of online discussion groups, which I generally agree with as well - for instance, the ease of participation and the lowered technical and financial resources for participation in general.)
That's it from me for now - off to class!
Which I guess is a way of expressing - maybe even expanding upon - the introduction to participatory journalism that comes up in this week's reading from The Media Center:
"Participatory journalism flourishes in social media — the interpersonal communication that takes place through email, chat, message boards, forums — and in collaborative media — hybrid forms of news, discussion and community."
What I'm suggesting, I guess, is that the boundaries of participatory journalism are really easily blurred into the space that one could more generally call "participatory culture."
I don't have a lot else to say, but I wanted to also comment specifically on the weaknesses of "discussion group" settings:
"Weaknesses: Sometimes forums are too open, easily garnering flip, reactive comments. Active, large forums can get noisy, with so many posts from so many members, it's hard to determine what information is meaningful or useful. In addition, some moderated forums require each post to be pre-approved before it appears online, slowing down and smothering the conversation."
My comment is generally an emphatic YEP! This is, in a nutshell, why I don't go out of my way to participate in political (and other forms of) discussion online. In my last blog post I talked about the difficulty of navigating in a forum populated by thousands of active participants. And re: the modding business, I have heard some interesting and frightening horror stories about having to moderate big-name forums. Though this wasn't so much about conversation-smothering as reigning-in-the-hatemongering, which is a definite up-side to forum moderation. (I should point out that this reading does also focus on the positive aspects of online discussion groups, which I generally agree with as well - for instance, the ease of participation and the lowered technical and financial resources for participation in general.)
That's it from me for now - off to class!