Henry Jenkins Photoshop and Conclusion - From 9/22/11

Chapter Six:  Photoshop for Democracy

In his final chapter, Henry Jenkins takes a look at the ways in which pop culture - and convergence culture by proxy- could impact and is impacting politics.  Jenkins describes all of the topics covered in the book as "serious fun" - we are not just studying trivial pop culture or media; but ways in which all of these things interact to shape the ways in which we live our lives.  Jenkins takes the next step in this progression- from knowledge communities to fan participation, all the way to its applicability to politics.  Jenkins mentions first the impact that pop culture had on voters in the 2004 election, as evidence of the potential that studying pop culture and convergence culture can have on more than just our media consumption.

One thing that Jenkins mentions early on in the chapter is a "revolutionary potential" that comes from the development of communication technologies such as we have today- that would enable "grassroots communication."  Information travels faster and is more available in this environment.  As Jenkins points out, "innovative and even revolutionary ideas" are accessed by more and more of the population thanks to the internet.  In talking about these points, Jenkins refers often to Paul Trippi- the campaign manager for Howard Dean's famous internet campaign.  Unfortunately, the downside to the widespread availability of information is also further scrutiny for public speakers.

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One minute, the internet was gaining Dean enough of a following to fund his campaign- and the next, it was turning against him and bowing him out of the race.

More than the simple internet though, Jenkins talks about the wide variety of ways politicians have started capitalizing on popular culture as a way to get a message out-  the approaches spread to concerts, movies, and even games (Howard Dean's game was the best example.)  At the same time, the public has begun participating in politics in a different way too.  Jenkins mentions the advent of political blogging as a way for politician and citizen alike to get ideas out into the public eye.  This, like many other methods is a grassroots oriented activity that can still have a widespread impact and be co-opted by the mainstream.

Specific to citizens themselves, Jenkins mentions various ways that the "consumer" is changing how he or she behaves in the political process:  between online community gameplay, participation in knowledge communities, blogging, and spreading politically-grounded Photoshop images on the internet- the average voter is changing as well.  One specific thing Jenkins looked at was an online gaming community called "Alphaville" which ran its own presidential elections back in 2004.  This game gave everyday citizens a chance to encounter the political process in a very real and invested way.  These new ways of engaging voters is one of the big hopes for a Democratic convergence culture- but it has obviously a ways to go yet.

One final thing that Jenkins looks at is the relations of our pop-culture knowledge communities to the political stalemate condition in the United States today.  He mentions that knowledge communities are formed based on cultural interests and knowledge- whereas political affiliation is formed based on... well, political affiliation and ideology.  He investigates the possibility that a form of knowledge community might be a tool in uniting such an ideologically divided nation- that we are willing to let go of our ideological differences in lieu of pop culture might suggest that there would be a way to get around our differences politically, on the basis of working together.  As Jenkins put it in conclusion:  "We need to create a context where we listen and learn from one another.  We need to deliberate together."

Conclusion:

In his conclusion, Jenkins once again sums up what convergence culture is all about- not a change in technology or media platform; but a cultural change, or a "paradigm shift" toward media that flows across multiple platforms and channels and interaction amongst different forms of media.  While he does say that this move is largely about turning out a profit, Jenkins does go on to mention the way convergence culture is creating new ways of producer-consumer (and consumer-consumer) interaction.  It is changing the ways in which we interact with one another and with the media that we consume (and now, create!)  Jenkins argues that we are developing important skills- he calls them participatory skills- first through pop culture but that it has the potential to spill over into the way we view politics, education, or any other number of things.  It's a cultural change that we are just at the beginning of; as Jenkins says- "convergence culture is the future, but it is taking shape now."