What does online participation mean in culture?

Participation in the area of culture often involves productive engagement: The protagonists create something, although the primary objective is not commercial (Ryu et al., 2009). What remains essentially unclear is how to delineate this „something“: Some authors consider the mere act of generating meaning, understanding or insight to be a creative act (Deuze, 2006). Creativeness is certainly a key element when it comes to participation in culture. On the Internet, the main focus is on content produced and communicated by means of media. On a base level, even a conversation can be an expression of participation. This is why a large number of studies in this area look into online communities, so interest and discussion groups, that engage in communication on cultural topics in a wider sense.

Online communities facilitate cultural exchange: "Goodreads"

Example 11: The online community „Goodreads“ is dedicated to sharing reading tips. Users can search for books, publish book reviews, communicate with other users and join virtual book clubs.

Above all social media place a spotlight on creative processes focussing on the reworking or deconstruction of existing commodities, their combination and reconstruction using the constituent elements (Deuze, 2006). Tinkering, combining, so-called „bricolage“, are enabled in particular by the simplification in sharing content (audio, image, video) that social platforms enable. This also clarifies why the question of intellectual property is so hotly disputed in the digital realm: Is the deconstruction and subsequent recomposition of existing melodies and/or images an act of piracy or a creative product with its own inherent cultural value? Numerous authors in this area of research into participation on the Net appreciate the value of user „empowerment“ and the communal creative process that this enables. Culture on the Net is meant to be primarily „bottom up“ (Castells, 2001).

Collaborative interactions on the internet: social media art project "Masterpiece 2.0"

Example 12: The social media art project „Masterpiece 2.0“ emerged from the interaction between an artist and visitors to his website. The artist painted a multi-layered canvas, taking instructions from the visitors. This produced art based on the principle of interaction found in social media.

Even if creative participation is a linchpin of online culture (Cook et al., 2009), some analysts emphasise the significance of supportive activities: The Net promotes sharing information and experience and hence facilitates the outpouring of creative energies. Online communities that focus on instruments or software offerings to produce music are an example here. Participating in these communities is what enables a broad variety of these creative acts. So forums of this kind also fulfil a facilitatory function when it comes to participating on the Net.

Online participation in culture covers a vast range of contentual objects. Music, film, philosophy, religion and forms of expressing one’s identity, including fan culture, are among the objects of research. Research also looks into various types of Internet use. Entertainment, information and sharing may be among the motives that prompt participation (Ryu et al., 2009; Grace-Farfaglia et al., 2006). Accordingly, some studies transfer established theories of „uses and gratifications“ to online participation in culture, as these aspects are directly linked to the media use itself. This approach is based on the assumption that media are used to satisfy a specific need – and so it differentiates these needs.

Motives relating to identification and affiliation frequently represent the focal point of investigation, given that the production of meaning is an elementary factor within participation in culture (McKenna & Bargh, 1998). Hence, online participation is guided by the user identity and by the same measure is a tool within self-discovery and the development of self-awareness – quite frequently through engaging with groups, for instance in online communities. Thus it is possible to distinguish between functional motives (including information and entertainment) and social motives (for instance affiliation) (Alon & Brunel, 2007). Investigations of online communities suggest that users frequently establish contact to the online offerings for functional reasons, but once there develop a personal relationship. With time, the social motives for use take the place of their functional counterparts (Ewing, 2008).

Therefore, the motives for use influence the form of participation. Users with a strong sense of affiliation contribute more frequently to online debates. The depth or richness of contributions, on the other hand, is enhanced by greater experience or a longer period of affiliation (Nov et al., 2009). Accordingly, some studies attempt to distinguish online participation in culture based on the type of engagement. And these studies reveal an extremely broad spread in the incidence of these forms of participation.