1. Debating the status of the audience

    Textual poaching

*Jenkins, H. ‘The collective intelligence’

Question- How do the knowledge of culture and commodity culture supplement each other and how do they do it so well, and why do fans reciprocate so well when asked their feelings?

Answer- because of the knowledge fans have, it makes it easier for writers and editors of programs to make a second series or follow up programs. It enables new forms of fan fiction. Fans develop skins, websites etc..

For example, fans ‘become’ their hero(Harry Potter, Buffy the vampire slayer), the ability to become the person they want is more accessible because of the web. It gives fans  the possibility to shape the media. Everyone gets a say in what happens, that makes it more interesting for the public. It’s a continuous process of questions and answers.

*Marshall, D. ‘The new Intertextual Commodity’

Question- Why do people fall for advertising made through movies & famous people?

Answer- After the Matrix was out, ‘everyone’ wanted Neo’s sunglasses. Britney Spears wears Uggs and suddenly everyone has to have a pair. Justin Timberlake wears ‘funky’ hats and it’s a new trend. Why is this? Because the public, the audience wants to be seen as ‘cool’. It gives them a sense of control over their own lives and makes them feel as if they are as cool as their Hero.

*Cultural Economy- Introduction

Question- How do Lash & Urry back up their claim that economy is now more than ever culturalized?

Answer- They point to a number of developments. Organizations who produce and distribute cultural hardware have become the most innovative and economic actors in the world.

They not only represent some of the most important economic growth sectors, but also offer paradigmatic instances of the de- differentiation of ‘culture’ and ‘economy’ in terms of their own business practices (Lash & Urry, 1994:108-9).

*H2O Case: Jenkins (2002) writes on page 1

“If the current media environment makes visible the once invisible work of media spectatorship, it is wrong to assume that we are somehow being liberated through improved media technologies”

-          What is your opinion about this statement?

-          I agree with this statement. Nowadays people become aware of the media and back ground information is submitted. Beforehand you didn’t know and see what happened ‘behind the scenes’. The news for example was stated and people had to accept it. Today, when watching CNN, you can see the reporters in Bagdad, you see them talking to political leaders, you actually see what is happening and what is told is true. There is a shift of awareness concerning the way media and news is obtained.

2. Virtual communities- economics

*Vogel, H. Economic Perspectives

Question- What are the different Industry structures, and what are they based on?

Answer-There are different structures that are based on a  micro economic theory

-          Perfect competition- firms all make identical products and each firm is so small in relation to total industry output that its operations have a negligible effect on price or on quantity supplied.

-          Monopoly structure- There are no close substitutes for the single firm’s output, prices are set by the firm, and there are barriers that prevent potential competitors from entry.

-          Monopolistic competition- many sellers of differentiated products and in which some control of pricing and competition through advertising is seen.

-          Oligopoly structure- few sellers of products that are close substitutes and pricing decisions may affect the pricing and output decisions of other firms in the industry.

• Castranova, E. On Virtual Economies.

Question- Why is it not likely that the virtual market would be monopolized?

Answer- This is for a number of reasons.

Firstly, there seems to be a great diversity of tastes for the different features of a world.

Secondly, congestion, if everyone visits the same site at the same time, the site will be over congested, and will be no use to anyone.

Thirdly, many competitive strategies are available, but have not been exploited by new entrants.

A final argument against a monopolization tendency comes from the nature of the content itself. It will always be possible to produce a fun virtual world with a tiny amount of money and scale it up as it becomes more popular.

• Cultural Economy Chapter 3.

Question-Why are economic and cultural categories economically and practically interdependent?

Answer- Economics and cultural economic categories can not be reduced to or separated from the other. The consumer and the creator both define the supply and demand. In economics you also have to stay ahead of your competitor, you have to implement  social and cultural aspects. As the structure of society is rapidly changing, a company has to adapt to these changes. For instance the music industry and the fashion industry have to keep in pace with the changing fashion demand. Everyone has different tastes and companies must adjust to these demands if they want to sell their products.

* Cultural Economy Chapter 2.

Question- Do ‘cultural’ and other industries have more in common in terms of symbolic, artistic function and established know-how(e.g.bank) than that which divides them?

Answer- In order to sell a product, the aesthetic factor is important, because people are attracted to this. People are lured to certain banks or supermarkets ambience. The architectural design, the music playing, makes people more comfortable, stay longer, buy more and makes them come back again. Usually the artistic aspect is not considered important by itself. However the product such as bank services needs advertising in order to function and compete. The symbolic, artistic function and know-how supplement and need each other in order to function well.

* H2O Case

Selling Mobile phones over internet

We are interested in setting up a mobile telephone business named ‘CALLUS’ on the internet. Our goal is to sell these phones over the internet and therefore not have an actual shop.

How are we going to tackle this?

For starters we would have to find out what the age group is for selling our products. We assume that the age group of 13-25 is an age group that is interested in buying phones with the newest gadgets. Also, this age group uses mobiles a lot to talk to friends and download games, ringtones etc. Furthermore we would have to apply and find out if we are just permitted to put up a site without any complications.

What kind of website would we like to sell our products on?

We want to set up a website that is easily available and easy to use.

Which sites would we choose to advertise on?

We would advertise a lot via popups, particularly on new email databases (eg zonnet). Because young people usually are the first to try out the newest and trendy things available on the net. We would also place advertisements on websites that are popular, for instance Idols, MTV, TMF.

Our initial investments would be based on the following:

We have to be aware of barriers to entry (the advertisement world)

-         Capital ( We need to start up a business, and so we need a starting budget so that our company can develop)

-         Know-how ( experience in setting up a business on internet, capturing an audience, and technological side of mobile phones& subscriptions)

-         Regulations ( finding out who we need to contact to start advertising on different sites, which companies we need to get permission from)

-         Price Competition (competing with other companies in our branch for who is the cheapest, and can get the most subscriptions)

We have to try and make our products unique, for instance our phone network is the only network which has certain popular games, and can download certain ringtones, pictures, and messages.

 There are many companies with the same concept as ours. Therefore we have to distinguish ourselves from all the others. We have to try and be up- to- date with the newest trends in music, mobile and game- land.

We came up with the idea that when someone buys our phone with a one year subscription to our network ‘CALLUS’ this person can download ringtones, picture messages, games etc for free. This can be done in combination with your telephone number. (to prevent others from taking advantage of our services).

Also we would have to find out how we can sell our products for a low price (and still of course make profits). By being up to date and giving a lot of ‘freebees’ we try to be the most outstanding choice for our customers, even if we can not be the cheapest.

‘DON’T BOTHER WITH ALL THE FUSS, SUBSCRIBE TO CALLUS’

 3. Virtual communities-space

* Hutchby, I. ‘The Communicative Affordances of Technological Artefacts’.

Question- How can you explain that two complete different constructions/ Items can have so many identical overlapping similarities?

Answer- The reason is that we always work from a set input, e.g. People-transportation-gravity- distance are a set given.

An airplane and a Bridge have many similarities. They both bring people from one place to another through the air. Both have been constructed with utmost precision by engineers, but are completely different. This shows how confusing items or situations can be for people. In theory structures may look alike, therefore it is important that its clear for the consumer. Of course its obvious what the difference between a bridge and airplane is, but the way items are advertised should not be misleading.

* Dodge, M. & Kitchin, R. ‘Geographies of the Information Society’

Question- Should local stores feel threatened by the stores of the ‘new global cities’?

Answer- No, because people who browse the net usually see something they like in one of the online stores they check out. Instead of ordering the item they want, they more often than not go to the local store to find the item there, to see if it fits and what it actually looks like.(if the item were clothing for example) and then directly pay and take the item with you. The disadvantage of the Internet is not being able to actually see what something looks like ‘in real life’ and having to pay shipping expenses, having to wait a couple of days to weeks before actually owning the item.

Virtual communities-Organization and culture

L.Kung-Shankleman – What is organization culture?

Question- What is meant by the term ‘ competencies’ ?

Answer- Competencies are traditionally understood as distinctive organizational attributes that create sustainable competitive advantage and a platform for further growth.

M.De Mooij - Dimensions of culture

Question-In this article the term Masculinity/ Femininity (Mas) is discussed. The article states that ‘the dominant values in a masculine society are achievement and success, the dominant values in a feminine society are caring for others and quality of life’ The Dutch are considered a feminine society, but is Holland really a typical ‘feminine’ culture?

Answer-I would say that Holland is more of a ‘Unisex’ culture. Not only do we have many feminine aspects, but also have masculine aspects. For instance, the Dutch have a good economy, and work is very important to most of us. Achievement and success are high on the priority list. I think it is true that the Dutch may have respect for the underdog, but no more than other cultures. Masculine aspects in Holland.

Sean Nixon ‘Advertising Cultures’

Question- Are cultural values are important in advertising?

Answer-Yes, the commercial message between consumers and their clients is very important. Because agencies are hired to do research regarding cultural values in order to improve their sales.

Cultural Economy- Chapter 5 ‘From Holloway to Hollywood’

Question- How can you redress the inequities which arise from this holy neo-liberalized cultural labor market?

Answer- This is because work opportunities are spread more thinly across a wider cross-section of individuals.

There are many made-up jobs. Previously, the working situation was different. One company had many workers and now many companies have only few employees. These are freelancers and self employed entrepreneurs. Especially creative people do not have access to unemployment  benefits and therefore the only alternative is to stack up other jobs ( cab driving, bar work etc..)Until more fulfilling opportunities arrive.

These low status temporary jobs de-socialize an entire group of employees, especially the older people.

According to J.Gray and F. Flores ‘We must look towards entrepreneurship as the form of working life that can renew the common values once supported by the institution of the career’