In short, Spreadable Media argues: If it doesn’t spread, it’s dead… this book challenges some of the prevailing metaphors and frameworks used to describe contemporary media, from biological metaphors like “memes” and “viral” to the concept of “Web 2.0” and the popular notion of “influencers.” Spreadable Media examines the nature of audience engagement, the environment of participation, the way appraisal creates value, and the transnational flows at the heart of these phenomena. It delineates the elements that make content more spreadable and highlights emerging media business models built for a world of participatory circulation… (Spreadable Media)
Spreadable Media Overview
Spreadable Media provides an updated media map for the digital age replacing outdated broadcast age concepts like “stickiness” (roach hotels!), memes and “viral content”. Authors Henry Jenkins, Sam Ford, and Joshua Green define the nature and importance of content “spreadability” in a world of pervasive social media. Spreadable Media focuses on the conditions for global participatory circulation, the movement and evolution of co-created content (derived, mashup, remix, etc.) and the augmented relevance/value of audience enhanced content.
In many cases, the greatest marketing successes are not those that spread “virally” among a massive audience but instead those that have content that really resonates with a key audience and acts as cultural material for their own conversations. And, in those cases where a piece of content does become an Internet-wide sensation, it is always driven by allowing people to express themselves through your message rather than having something inherent within the video or story that people are somehow forced to send along. ~ Sam Ford (Fast Company)
Spreadable media is a theory of circulation. Distribution historically refered to a top down, industry controlled system which sought to control the movement of media content across the culture. Independent media makers have often been locked out of the most established systems of distribution by powerful gatekeepers who have worked to protect the interests of mainstream media. Circulation, on the other hand, refers to an emerging hybrid model, where a mix of top-down and bottom-up forces determine how material is shared across and among cultures in far more participatory (and messier) ways. Collective decisions people make about whether to pass along media texts are reshaping the media landscape. A system of circulation offers far more opportunities for independent media makers to enter the consciousness of their desired publics, to court relationships with fans and followers, and to engage with audiences beyond their national borders. ~ Henry Jenkins, Sam Ford, and Joshua Green (TribecaFilm.com)
Pre-order Spreadable Media
Spreadable Media: Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Culture, by Henry Jenkins, Sam Ford, and Joshua Green will be released on January 21, 2013, but you can pre-order it now.
More Information
Book Website: spreadablemedia.org
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Thanks for sharing info about the book! Appreciate your help in getting the word out.
You bet. Onward!