Participatory Culture Analysis

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“The emergence of participatory cultures will enable deep social changes,” said Howard Rheingold. Participatory culture lends the exchange of diverse perspectives, community involvement, and empowerment through online platforms for social groups. Social media activism—as seen in the Ozgecan Aslan case against gender-based violence in Turkey on Twitter—and YouTube—transitioning from amateur to professional, revenue-targeted content—depict how participatory culture has revolutionized the way new ideas are exposed. In particular, the Ozgecan Aslan social media activism movement has effectively fostered tangible political and social change in the Turkish government, whereas YouTube has transformed advertising in consumerism worldwide. Ozgecan …show more content…
In traditional advertising, advertisers are not sure the extent of how an advertisement affects the audience or specifically how effective it will be. The most important part of advertising on YouTube is the idea of participatory culture. Advertisers and brands can receive immediate feedback through the videos. They get to hear the voices of the customers and how they react to certain products through the YouTubers. For example, users will comment on the YouTuber’s video or create response videos on the products mentioned. This way advertisers and brands interact with consumers (Stanislaw). The content on Youtube is rhizomatic with different topics, ideas, and genres branching in all directions across the platform. YouTube is an example of decentralization and how the fate of a video’s success is in the audiences’ hands and feedback through comments, likes, and shares. YouTube also follows the “So Lo Mo” format. YouTube is used as a platform to promote messages and engage target audiences for advertisers. It is local because based off of your location, or watch history, the advertisers will target certain areas and demographics that would find their product or company …show more content…
Our culture revolves around being connected, being social, and being vocal. Participatory culture occurs online through platforms like Twitter and YouTube and serves versatile functionalities. Social media activism on Twitter successfully changed the views of prominent politicians in Turkey, and YouTube modernized methods of advertising and consumerism. Participatory culture allows for activist groups to voice their “stories” for social change and allows the YouTube community to come together and fit the roles of contributors and

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