Produsage - is it even a real word?

If you are like me you have never heard of the term produsage before. I didn’t even know there was such a word! So what is it and what does it mean. Enter google and type in ‘produsage definition’. Interestingly the first result is a definition from Wikipedia which defines it as a term developed by Dr Axel Bruns to describe the building of existing content through user participation.

“the collaborative and continuous building and extending of existing content in the pursuit of further improvement”

Why I say that the first result being a definition from Wikipedia is interesting  is that this site is exactly what produsage is about. Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that is collaboratively edited by users. Users are able to add, edit and delete content from within the site. 

The concept of this is the knowledge of many gives a more rounded view – but does it really? Academia does not generally recognize Wikipedia as a reliable source of evidence. Some of my lecturers have even specifically spelt out in assessment criteria that no marks will be given for Wikipedia referenced material. And to be honest, wilst I think there is a place for collaborative learning and expanding on existing knowledge, I too do not give much credibility to the information contained in Wikipedia – anyone can edit the information, therefore is it correct? But then again, am I stuck in ‘old way thinking’ and does something really need to be written by someone who has lots of citations of other peoples work (sometimes making it so hard to read) for it to be credible – isn’t this just rehashing someone else’s work but just in your own words? Isn’t this similar to produsage? Is produsge just a more technologically advanced method of information content sharing and creation?

A very simple explanation of produsage can also be found on Wikipedia which illustrates the term with “ a produsage activity is using (consuming)media on YouTube, and producing (leaving)comments."

Finally something I can relate to.

Without realizing it I have been a participant in produsage through my university studies. Many of the units I have undertaken have involved collaborative assessment pieces where we have used wiki’s and the like to piece together our assessment pieces. Each person adding, editing, commenting on ours and others contributions.

Previously I had not been a fan of group work, my experiences with it had not been all that crash hot, however my view had changed (and whilst I still do prefer to work independently), collaborative learning does have it place. The old saying of two heads are better then one comes to mind as I think about some of the ideas that my assessment partners have come up with which I had not thought about. It can be a real eye opener.

The technology we use today, has also helped shape my changed view. Wiki’s make it easy to work collaboratively, it is more effective and efficient then sending documents back and forth, especially in the distance education world.

"We are all producers": Online participatory culture (video below) is a short video that illustrates and discusses produsage in a easy ti understand manner. The video shows how that with old technology we were passive consumers of media and that new technology has changed this and we now edit,create and share content.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Produsageviewed 4 February 2013

http://produsage.org/ viewed 4 February 2013