Participatory Culture and Social Media
Participatory culture is defined as a culture where you are not only a consumer but only a producer, not only are you consuming content but you’re also creating and sharing it. This is a culture where you feel your contribution matter, you feel apart of a community (Jenkins, 2010). For example, I use platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, I am always sharing and liking posts that I come across, as well as creating and posting things on my own. I do this because I enjoy it, and I feel like my friends and family would enjoy it as well. How much is being consumed and how much is being produced is entirely up to the user.
Some forms that are apart of participatory culture are affiliations, expression, collaborative problem solving, and circulations (Jenkins, 2010). I personally feel like I would classify myself as an affiliate and expressive user mostly but also a circulator. I am affiliated in many groups through Facebook, GroupMe, and Instagram. Like a UMN girls group where we update each other on upcoming events or just to simply ask questions. I also part of family groups, and youth groups where I create content and flyer and present/share/post them for a certain audience.
Using social media and being apart of participatory culture I feel like I have the privilege of being creative through my content. I feel more involved in the many communities I am apart of and have a social connection as well and able to participate in civic engagement through sharing content I see through platforms (Jenkins, Purushotma, Clinton, Weigel, & Robison, 2009). Such as the BLM movement, I was able to spread awareness as well as learn information through consuming content and sharing it for others to benefit from it as well.
Due to COVID-19, I feel like my involvement in participatory culture has increased. Due to not being able to see my friends, family, or even classmates, I am more engaged in Zoom, creating groups to stay more in touch, as well as consuming so much more from my family and friends to feel like I am still involved with them. I also feel like there is so much being posted and shared because we are unable to spread that information in person, so we need to produce it and spread it to a wide variety of people.
