Conference Analysis

On Thursday 23rd January we travelled to the BFI to participate in a 'We Media' and Democracy lecture day. It was hosted by Matthew Hall, Head of Film and Media Studies at Seven Kings High School and author of the BFI's 'Teaching Men and Film'. We were also able to contribute to interviews with Rosa Weber and Malcolm Smith.

A brief outline of the day was listed on the BFI website as:

"‘We-Media’ and democracy in the pre-digital and on-line age. What is ‘We-Media’? How does it differ from more traditional forms? Can digital media promote social democracy? This Study Day is particularly relevant to those studying OCR’s AS Media ‘Audiences and Institutions’ unit and A2 ‘We-Media’ and ‘Media in the On-Line Age’. Students will be able to hear and put questions to a range of speakers representing different perspectives on the debates surrounding ‘We-Media’."

We discussed our opinions on topics such as;

-Should social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter be classified as 'media'?

-Does 'social media' depend on the internet and digital technology?

-Can YouTube be classified as 'media'?

WeMedia was the key focus of the day, and we were exploring its meaning and purpose. The key points we took from the day included that We Media is created by a community who happily share their opinions for fun, often poor quality, consumed only by friends and posted on YouTube, Flikr and other social networking sites. It includes texts that have creative value, produced by people with creative talent but who aren't employed as a media professional, therefore lacking professional training.

Civic Value are media texts created in order to give a voice to the participants and to spread information with the overall aim of helping society, e.g. Citizen Journalism. 

Some of the case studies we looked into included Demotix, a site where citizen journalists can post pictures of their own accounts of current issues/topics, creating discussions and raising awareness. 

-Institution independent

-Open source, anyone can contribute

-Communal value, sharing with other photojournalists

-Creative value, talented news photographers, but with no formal training or direct institution employment 

-Civic value, spread information worldwide, raise awareness, allows witnessing of events maybe not accessible by professional journalists (restrictions, planning, etc), provides training and practice for amateur photographers, non-hierarchial structure

-Cross media synergy, symbiotic relationship with media institutions offering quality photojournalism

Pre-internet subcultures were a topic we discussed and we compared their development with the progress of modern subcultures with the assistance of the internet. These subcultures included Punk, HipHop, Skater culture, Trekkies/Trekkers and Ravers. 

Key Quotes/Comments taken from the day:

- Mass production for mass consumption

-We think therefore we are

-In the past, 'you are what you owned', now in present times, 'you are what you share'

-One Pound Fish original videp generated 12.6m YouTube views, is that 'We-Media'?

-TAZ (temporary autonomous zones), free spaces where normal mainstream rules don't apply, you're not    judged as you're surrounded by similar people, forming own community