"[U]ser-generated content," referred to by the smart set as "UGC." Most of the time, when companies talk about user-generated content, they mean nothing grander than the pictures you store on Web sites or the pages that MySpace members spend hours fussing over.
But for those preaching the glories of the new mash-up culture, UGC is bringing about a new golden age, with the Internet giving a platform to everyone, not just elite writers or filmmakers.
While this guy has a few keen observations here, he does come off sounding like a bitter, old-school newpaper guy who's worried about all the eyeballs that are no longer reading his paper.
Another clueless guy from the MSM.
(Hey, journalists have to eat too, so I hope newspapers find a way to reinvent themselves.)
But what's really lost on him is one of most important reasons why users would create content in the first place: because the so-called elite filmmakers and writers aren't creating material that people truly care about.
Now maybe this is because the suits make production decisions based on revenue potential, and their artistic taste is deplorably inferior -- I'm sure there's a grain of truth to that -- but hasn't it always been the case that the money guys give the greenlight?
The real problem is lack of compelling, interesting, and universal ideas in the first place.
Elites, where art thou?
Examine the all-too-rapid decline of HBO's The Sopranos, look at the crap that was the last three Star Wars epics, pick any book off of the bestseller list of your choice: all garbage, no timeless classic anywhere to be found.
So, if the elites are producing garbage, all in pursuit making a buck, then UGC seems like a rational step to fill a void created by the overflow of commercial garbage content manufactured by the so-called elite.
Morever, if all the so-called elite can do is crank out garbage, then why should ordinary users be expected to do better?
That this guy refers to a programme created in 1966 as an example of guilt-free quality content attests to the fact that the contemporary so-called elite isn't delivering anything worthwile.
At least when they're tinkering with the digital age's equivalent of home movies, users are doing something constructive.
The so-called elite needs to give users reasons to remain passive, and right now, they don't have the will or are simply not capable of doing that.
b/w: Scripting News