A Definition of Convergence

Throughout the introductory chapter of Henry Jenkin's Convergence Culture, the focus is primarily on how the term convergence can be defined. Taking Jenkin's example of Dino Ignacio's "Bert is Evil" images, Jenkin's highlights how a simple act of editing pictures and posting them online "sparked an international controversy" (Jenkins, 2006, p2) He talks about how convergence culture is where "old and new media collide" (Jenkins, 2006, p2) so in other words, don't really exist to co-operate with each other. Depending on how it is used and distributed, for instance, Ignacio's images, which traveled from his bedroom to Banglasdesh, to appearing on anti-American posters to the living rooms of the world through CNN. Had these images been exposed in others ways, it might not have had the same affect, it depends on the social interactions.

In terms of social interactions, Jenkins makes reference to shows like Survivor and American Idol, in regards to the relations between the producers and the consumers, referring to how much control the consumer has in terms of the outcomes of the show, for example who goes through to the next round of the show and who doesn't. Does the consumer have all the control or is there factors working behind the scenes who ultimately have the final say in the shows outcomes as "not all participants are created equal" (Jenkins, 2006, p3) One example of this in the present day would be websites like Buzzfeed, which features news and various other areas of interest like fashion or music etc. This website focuses heavily on social interaction through its "Now Buzzing" sidebar, which highlights the most visited stories of the day. This often leads to stories like "29 Underrated things about being in your late twenties" (Buzzfeed, 9th October 2013) being seen alongside a news report on the US Congress shutdown. Through social interaction, two areas of opposite interest are now being mixed together, simply by the control of the consumer. This could have had many different outcomes, leading back to Jenkin's example of "Bert is Evil" and how the media affected it.

There are many ways that convergence can be described but to put things simply "we are in an age of media transition" (Jenkins. 2006, p11) and we had better be ready for it.

References
Jenkins, H. 2006. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, New York University Press