How do you define convergence culture? According to the New York University (NYU) Press, it is viewed as 'a new territory where old and new media collide and where "grassroots and corporate media intersect, which causes an unpredictable outcome between the media producer and consumer' (NYU Press Website 2008). Axel Bruns contextualised this definition in the "Convergence Culture Lecture" in week 3, by offering an example of how American culture is imprinted within media forms that are visited globally through technology devices. You have an image of Bert attached to a placard that is carried down the streets of Bangladesh, which is televised to the world via CNN and makes alot of left and right wing extremists very angry on Google and Youtube.
How does this even occur? It seems quite absurd that an icon of American culture can be displayed in the middle of an anti-Western rally. One of the notions that makes an event such as this a reality is found within the definition of convergence culture, and this is known as participatory culture. What is it? If you could put it into some context like an Anti-Western rally? According to Bruns (2008) we as consumers are driving convergence through pre-exisitng technology, by spreading it across different forms of media (Lecture 3 "Covnergence Culture"). The image of Bert "laughing" next to the focal image of Osama Bin Laden was manipulated with image software, uploaded to the Web and then printed, which then enabled CNN and other television networks to pick it up through "journalistic coverage". Every media outlet that contributed to this event had a significant impact on the final product, and their participation has most definately altered the perceptions of some groups towards America and the Middle East. I agree with Jenkin's view that the individual is driving convergence through old and new technology (the Internet and print media especially) with strikingly effective results. If a relatively insignificant economic and political force like Bangladesh can drive the perceptions of wealtheir nations on issues of terrorism and political agendas, the culture of convergence has reached a new zenith in the early stages of the Information Age.
Collective Intelligence is about "sharing information" to others, and to the world at large. A couple of examples of collective intelligence are found in online information sharing communities like Google and Wikipedia. Naish tells us that these media forms are "ways for individuals to share their knowledge and skills," (2007: 10) as well as I believe, to update them. When you share information on the Internet you are acting as an independent thinker and not as Naish has put it "one of the crowd," (2007:10) and at the very least you can empower others to utilise this information and guide it across other key media platforms.
Referring back to the example of Bert and OBL, there is an innate 'collective intelligence' at work here to make the image transform into a powerful iconic signifier. The result: plentiful amounts of controversy and more anti-American sentiment felt by the Middle-East, the terrorists and their vehement supporters. Brown and Lauder (in Avis) define collective intelligence as, "empowering users through information to attain goals and solve problems" (Avis 2002: 320). The placard in Bangladesh went through a systemic corroboration of media forms and a 'collective intelligence' in the online environment to achieve an outcome, therefore illustrating that this notion is a significant component of achieving a convergence culture. Jenkin's hones in on the agents that share information, which cross between "media consumers and media texts (print media) and media producers (CNN/television networks)" (Online MIT Publication Henry Jenkins: Date Unknown: 1). Each media entity is at work in the Bert example, and they all ahere to the basic principles of convergence covered here. I believe this example offers a fantastic insight into the tenets of convergence culture, which is driven by technology, knowledge systems, and networked society.
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