Ready or not, here comes Convergence Culture

The paradigm shift between old media and new media is upon us. The old media has been converged with the new emerging technologies. “By convergence, I mean the flow of content across multiple media platforms” (jenkins, 2008, p2). This has changed how we interact with the circulation of media content, and brought about a “collective intelligence”(Jenkins, 2008, p4), a term coined by Pierre Levy.

 

Convergence represents a cultural shift in the creation of content across media platforms and the enhancement of the intellectual consumer. This cultural shift can also be seen in the migratory behaviour of the consumer, with media being courted across multiple platforms, the consumer will seek it out almost anywhere.

 

The consumer also plays a vital role in the circulation of media and material. “Convergence occurs within the brains of individual consumers and through social interactions with others” (jenkins, 2008, p3). Look at the case study of Dino Ignacio, “from his bedroom, Ignacio sparked an international controversy” (jenkins, 2008). This is a perfect example of the convergence culture we live in, an intersection between grassroots and corporate media where “the power of the media producer and the power of the media consumer interact in unpredictable ways.” (jenkins, 2008, p2)

 

The breakthrough of current technologies is the culmination of what Jenkins defines as convergence. Take the iPhone, it has not displaced the need for old media mediums, it has merely shifted their functions and status to work in the larger system of communication options, “Each old medium was forced to coexist with the emerging media” (jenkins, 2008,p14). Mobile phones sole purposes are to make calls, yet due to convergence the mobile companies no longer make a single function phone, as nobody would buy such an absurd thing.

 

Jenkins also considers the “Black box fallacy” (jenkins, 2008, p13). This looks at the new technologies used to deliver media in what he calls “black boxes”, “I don’t know about you, but in my living room, I am seeing more and more black boxes” (Jenkins, 2008,p15). It is the view that before long “all media content is going to flow through a single black box in our living rooms” (Jenkins, 2008, p14) almost the pinnacle of convergence culture. This seems even more plausible by the introduction of the next generation gamin consoles, specifically the “Xbox One” being described as “built for the future” (http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/xbox-one/innovation, 2013) and the “all in one entertainment system” (http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/xbox-one/innovation, 2013).

 fig1

 Ready or not, we are living in a convergence culture.

 

Bibliography

http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/xbox-one/innovation. (2013). Retrieved October 9th, 2013, from Xbox One - Innovation : http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/xbox-one/innovation

jenkins, H. (2008). Convergence Culture. New York: New York, University Press.

fig1. http://www.gengame.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/xbox-one-all-in-one-failure-690x388.jpg (2013).  Retrieved October 9th, 2013, from Gengame, http://www.gengame.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/xbox-one-all-in-one-failure-690x388.jpg