One place that would be interesting to go see while
travelling is McDonalds. McDonald’s are franchises all around the world bring
you the same thing, fast food that is the same every time. Why would you want to go to McDonalds
overseas when you have one in your country?
This question is very relevant but McDonalds is different all over the
world yet just the same. McDonalds use Prosumption which ‘involves both
production and consumption rather than focusing on either one (production) or
the other (consumption)’(Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010 p.15).
This is evident through the consumer having to go to the counter and look at the menu. They are then required to place their order, wait for their food , take it to a table of their choice and then when finished clean up
after. After working at McDonalds I have
learnt that the customer really help the employees. The customers basically run the show. This has become phenomena! Different businesses are now using the same process. For example, many
supermarkets such as Coles, have self-serve and people have to put petrol in their car
and then walk to the cashier. Zwick et al. (2008) has created the idea that
Foucauldian and neo-Marxian theories of prosumption ‘means companies are
granting new freedom to consumers’ (Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010 p14). They argue that ‘the ideological recruitment of consumers into
productive co-creation relationships hinges on accommodating consumers’ needs
for recognition, freedom, and agency’(Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010 p14)
This has now been globalised and can be seen in a lot of
websites on the Internet.
Evidently, it is identified as the Web 2.0, which allows users to
have the ability to produce content, plus observe others content and can
elaborate and collaborate the information (Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010 p18).
As a result it can be seen on the social networking site Facebook. The site allows
people to have the ability to write how they feel in status, post photos (good
place to see holiday snaps!), join different groups and keep in contact with
friends and family. Consequently, people have the ability to write comments on
other’s statuses and photos, in which replicates the idea prosumption. As a
result people have the ability to have freedom to do as they please. Ensuring that they are providing and
interacting with others in an immediate source. So next time you travel overseas make sure you
take a ‘selfie’ in a McDonalds and post it on Facebook, you will then be a
double users of prosumption
Ritzer, George and Jurgenson, Nathan 2010
‘Production, Consumption, Prosumption: The nature of capitalism in the age of
the digital ‘prosumer’, Journal of
Consumer Culture, vol. 10 no. 1, pp 13-36.
Hi Emily,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog.
Just some grammatical errors.
- 'help the people who work there’s job a lot easier' I don't think you can say 'there's' so to me it sounds better if you say 'it really makes the jobs of the people who work there a lot easier'.
- 'This has become phennona' - Do you mean 'This has become a Phenomena'?
- The word 'this' is overused in the second paragraph
Sorry I am very picky with grammar.
Overall I really enjoyed your blog as you explained the topic and linked ideas very well. I chuckled at your last sentence by showing me how I could be a double prosumer. Very thought provoking.
Good work.
Thanks ~ Melissa
Hi Emily,
ReplyDeleteThis was a great blog post to read and you brought up some valid ideas that relate to prosumption and the way we are prosumers.
I agree with you that using social networking such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and other social networking sites that allow the user to upload content for people to view and comment. Social media to me screams out to me that everyone that uses it is a prosumer!.
When originally writing my blog post on prosumption I wasn't to sure that I was completely a prosumer, I used social media to consume information etc and then worked out that I was producing information even just in a small status update or a wall post.
It's crazy to think that we have such a reliance on the internet for all our information!
Thanks for the read!
Prue McIntyre
Hi Emily
ReplyDeleteThanks for the sum-up of presumption! You made it very clear to me, what presumption is all about.
However I got confused when you made the Facebook ‘customer’ into a prosumer at the point they starting commenting. I think they start way earlier!
They start right when they begin to write their profile and upload photos. The site only provides a template, for us to fill out! All ready then you are a prosumer. As Ritzer and Jurgenson explain: ‘putting consumers to work – turning them into prosumers’. You are making the producers job – right from the start I think.
I like how you show your concern – but why do you refer to the ability to comment as ‘consequently’? Do you think badly of presumption?
Anyway it raised some questions in my mind, and is this not what blogging is all about? ;)
Thanks! Silja
Ref:
Jurgenson, N & Ritzer, G 2010, 'Production, Consumption, Prosumption: The nature of capitalism in the age of the digital 'prosumer’', Journal of Consumer Culture, Vol. 10, Issue 1,
Hi Emily,
ReplyDeleteYour post provides a great overview of a number of ways in which prosumer culture has developed, discussing both physical and digital forms. You’ve also made great use of the McDonalds example, something that readers can likely relate to immediately, and also quite relevant considering the Ritzer et al reading. As some other commenters have highlighted your post would improved with some grammatical corrections as well as some improvements in word selection. Your use of the Ronald devouring the globe image is both topical and hilarious so I enjoyed it a great deal. I would love to have seen a few more links to external opinion articles or sites to highlight your points further to help demonstrate the connected nature of the blogging platform. On the whole your post was informative and relevant to the academic source material. Thank you!