Are those who want to make DIY news online, best thought of as part of an alternative culture (that also exists offline) or is it more diverse than that? Think of examples beyond Indymedia.
I think that DIY news is an interesting concept, in that it is left for what would previously be considered the reader to now create the news, or fill the void on their own terms. I think this links back to the concept of the ‘produser’ as the notion of “news” is now what one wants to make it, rather than what happens to be shown on the 10 o’clock news. In this way, news can be tailored to suit the individual’s needs to a greater extent in that I can exclusively read about “news” which I would consider to be most relevant to me and my personal tastes and interests.
For example, if I had more interest in news exclusively about technology, I am able to filter this news out of all of the events which have recently occurred. An example of this for me would be that as I have an interest in graphic design, I can keep up to date with trends and techniques in this field by using the website http://psd.tutsplus.com/ I agree that in this way myself and other members of my generation are able to create our own media networks in order to fulfill the needs of our DIY news.
I think this again links back to the idea that via the Internet we are able to reduce the “only gay in the village” syndrome, as for me certainly, as I know very few people with an interest in this field IRL, I am able to view this web-site and see others who are equally as interested in it, leading to less of a feeling of being isolated in my liking for this topic. In this way I believe that creating DIY news online is part of an alternative culture, as it is more niche than the tastes of the mass culture, and the ideologies that go along with it are more fitting to your own beliefs.
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Isn't that just culture expanding and allowing for people's tastes to be accomodated on a wider scale... Wouldn't you see the fact you are able to visit these sites as a development of society itself, trying to involve the 'niche' in society.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure. Niche would suggest that not a lot of people are involved in it, and it's more specific, not necessarily that it's "excluded" from mass culture. I don't see either a niche culture of a mass culture and being superior to one another.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it's just that the Internet allowed Niche cultures and interests to be pursued more easily, rather than being pursued at all as I'm sure it happened before the rise in popularity of the Internet, just would've been a lot harder to find others with similar interests to yourself.