The internet opens up a whole new world when it come to the way we consume media. Now people can instantly share their opinions on what they are watching and have multiple ways to watch it. Instead of having to rely on your friend’s opinions of a movie or a television show you can go on Twitter, Facebook, IMDB or many other sites that people can instantly give their feedback to. People have even more power than that and can even take movies and write their own plot behind them, in essence creating their own spin offs. As talked about in the article fan fiction is a huge part of the online world when it comes to movies. Ever since the days of Napster, the media industry has been losing its power to the consumers and the trend doesn’t seem like it will be changing any time soon. Some authors don’t like fan fiction and believe it is copyright infringement, other see it as extra publicity. Some authors don’t like it but are too afraid of the backlash to do anything about it.

This is just one example of how much power the internet has given the consumers. One example in the reading that shows that shows how the content owners are trying to regain some of their power is one of George Lucas. He holds his own festival for his fans to come in and share their created content about star wars. George Lucas then picks the winners from what he feels is the best content. In doing this he can draw the line on where he feels the fans should be taking the story. In the end there will always be a struggle for power between the creators of content and the consumer and never has the winner of that battle been so blurred since the internet was introduced.

3 thoughts on “

  1. I think you’re right that the product owners are in a loser battle with the consumers. The fans are able to take the media product and enhance it in their own way.

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  2. I understand what you mean by the power struggle between the consumer and the producer. The crazy thing it that who the consumer and the producer positions switch when it comes to the the product being produced. The consumer and the producer end up being the same person and feed to the overall franchise. The fans get more things to enjoy and watch. The movie or series never just ends until the fans stop existing. I like that fans really end up loving something so much that they would like to add their own creativity to it and express it in actual work.

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  3. It is funny to think that 10 short years ago, we could not just have a thought about something we wanted to see and then go look it up. I like how you bring that aspect of instant gratification up. The fans, us, have been spoiled by technology and the internet. We have learned how to get the content we want, when we want it and the powers that be have to adjust. That feels good on some level because it isn’t that often where the “little guy” gets to dictate the rules to the big boys. Mark, as always, another great post and I am so glad that we got to work together on the final. Enjoy your summer and Good Luck!

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