Week 5 Blog Post

How Are You a 'Prosumer?'

How are you a prosumer? In regards to Ritzer's model of presumption, consider how you produce and consume your own identity: as a student, as an employee, as a fan, etc.

It is believed that the earlier forms of producer and consumer capitalism have always been characterised by ‘prosumption’ (Ritzer, 2009). Prosumption involves a combination of production and consumption, rather than solely focusing on either of these two concepts (Jurgenson & Ritzer, 2010). Recent changes to the social behaviour of society have given the notion of prosumption even greater centrality, especially those associated with the internet and websites, such as Facebook, Youtube and Twitter (Jurgenson & Ritzer, 2010). 

Society is dominated by excessive consumption and therefore drives the need for the production of merchandise. Author of ‘The Third Wave,’ Alvin Toffler, argues that contemporary society is moving away from the abnormal separation of production and consumption towards a ‘third wave’ which signals the rise of the ‘prosumer’ (Toffler, 1980). Literature on this topic has significantly expanded, and authors Tapscott and Williams see the prosumer as a part of a new ‘wikinomic’ model where businesses put their consumers to work (Tapscott & Williams, 2006).

According to Foucauldian and neo-Marxian theories, presumption means companies are granting new freedoms to consumer and argue that it accommodates consumers’ needs for recognition, freedom and agency (Zwick et al., 2008). Personally, I believe I have experienced this within my everyday life on many occasions. For example, each time I purchase groceries, I use the self-serve checkout counter and scan my own food, place it into bags and pay for the items myself. I have also used electronic kiosks at airports to check in to my flights and use ATM machines each time I need to withdraw money on the go. This has given me a greater sense of freedom and I am able to essentially serve myself in each instance.

There is also a wide range of less material examples of presumption which transpires online through the use of Web 2.0. and is crucial to the development of the means of prosumption (Jurgenson & Ritzer, 2010). I use Facebook and other social networking websites in order to create a personal profile and interact with friends and different communities. I have also used YouTube to watch various television shows, celebrity interviews and tutorials. Websites like Wikipedia ask users to create and edit posts, which can be updated and commented on by various people. Prosumption has therefore facilitated the production of my online identity and is a huge part of my everyday life.

Sources:

Jurgenson, N. and Ritzer, G. (2009) ‘Efficiency, Effectiveness and Web 2.0.’, in S. Kleinman (ed.) The Culture of Efficiency, pp 51-67. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.

Jurgenson, N. and Ritzer, G. (2010) ‘Production, Consumption, Prosumption: The nature of capitalism in the age of the digital ‘prosumer’’, Journal of Consumer Culture

Ritzer, G. (2009) ‘Correcting an Historical Error’, keynote address at the Conference on Prosumption, Frankfurt, Germany, March.

Toffler, A. (1980) The Third Wave. New York: William Morrow.

Tapscott, D. and Williams, A.D. (2006) Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. New York: Portfolio.

Zwick et al., (2008) ‘Putting Consumers to Work: Co-Creation and New Marketing Govern-mentality’, Journal of Consumer Culture 8:163-96.