Produser, and yes I spelt it right...

Original: Fresh, New, The Origin

Copy: Reproduction

Produsage is the art of taking in content, interpreting it and then resending that content. Like a cycle, think chinese whispers as a message goes in one ear, it'll usually start to alter with everyone's different interpretations of the message.

“There is an absence of producers, distributors, or consumers, and the presence of a seemingly endless string of users acting incrementally as content producers by gradually extending and improving the information present in the information commons, the value chain begins and ends (but only temporarily, ready for further development) with content.” (Bruns, 2006)

With a greater reliance on what has already been created, the concept of originality is fading into the background. That there are more people reinterpreting material than creating something from scratch. Why is there this new trend of reproducing material? How does it particularly work?

Just another question for the Media and there of.

Produsage comes in different forms, from the light artistic musical renditions to the informative databases used to cultivate information from collective minds. Both cultural and informative produsage have advanced, especially with the development of the media introducing the internet and the new new medias increase the spread of the produsage.

Below are a few examples of produsage in various industries:

- Musical Produsage

Madonna's 2005 hit song 'Hung Up' contained a sample of the popular ABBA song 'Gimme Gimme Gimme'. Featuring a the sample visibly throughout the song, the song relies on the sample's popularity to generate familiarity with music listeners tapping into their love for the ABBA song, translating that forward to love for the new song.

- Film Produsage

Currently another industry, the film industry recently has become more and more reliant on reproducing past cinema films. James Bond's Casino Royale, Alice and Wonderland, Bourne Identity, Cheaper by the Dozen and Fame are movies which have been remade. Some featured the same story with a new cast, while others like Alice in Wonderland offer a continuation or even another perspective of the story.

- Information Produsage

Wikipedia, though it's a more of an information database is a form of produsage, People collaborate their knowledge and continually interpret it and edit to better the information given.

- Fan Fiction Produsage

And finally fan fiction, where people take current stories or characters and further the story and life of the character chosen. Popular fan fiction topics are mainly sci fi with Star Wars, Star Trek and Lord of the Rings being very popular.

Whether produsage can be considered creative and new or unoriginal is subjective. When industries like the music and film utilize produsage it does come off as unoriginal, as the real reason for using the original concepts and stories is to exploit the sample's popularity which will transfer to the latest produsage song or movie. It is typically known that in these industries, the amount of reliance on past material is very common, leading to the questionability of whether there any original artists present.

I find however though an interpretation of a previous story, fan fiction/fandom I believe is a more creative and original form of produsage. Fans create stories and the like to further the longevity of the series (e.g: Star Wars) ensuring that it lives on even without the official creators of writers.

Originality is something that is no long important in current day society. In every industry you have one original idea, and instead of others coming up with a new idea to counter it they create a copy.

The purpose of the produsage I believe determines the originality and creativeness of the material created. If a produser uses something for commercial success I find it less original than other produsers who use it for a more personal or passionate gain. To achieve commericial sucess it to simply exploit what something has to offer. As to continue something you love is more creative because it's not about a material gain.

Who said you need to get a room?

Sex (noun) - Sexual intercourse

Sex (verb) - Engaging in Sexual Intercourse

Online Sex - ??

Sex, and with these three letters the room goes silent. The topical issue of sex isn't necessarily discussed with such a keen eye so to speak from an education perspective. Though I do find myself in the thick of it trying to nut out the result of the equation SEX + INTERNET = ??. And can cyber sex really be considered as sex?

This probably isn't the best topic for the dinner table...

This is some kind Media and there of.

Sexual culture is pretty simple; in reality. Two people (or more) engaging in acts in a sexual nature. That's the most G rated definition I can come up with. However if we add the internet into the mix, then it gets a whole lot complicated. The internet allows people to access online sexual content whether it be porn, online chat rooms or even utilizing a second life account in a sexual way. This adds another level of complexity to the notion of sex. For instance can a sexual relationship through a virtual chat room be considered engaging in a sexual act? Or even using your second life avatar to engage in a more visual sexual act, is that sex? And does this new sexual environment lead to new ventures as well as issues?

Cybersex culture opens the door for an increase of pornography generation, online chat rooms and other new avenues for sexual content and communication. A problem though due to the easy nature in which people can access this content and environment means that issues of control and open access. In an article "Internet Porn: Worse than Crack", Ryan Singel compares the use of internet porn with crack addition. Singel however points out that the use of porn can actually be even worse than having a crack addiction as 'the internet is the perfect drug delivery system' (Layden, 2004). Having efficient access 24/7 without much or any fees and having the ability to be anonymous when viewing content, there is nothing deterring the use of porn.

By participating in the cybersex environment, does it make sense to define it as actually having sex? Having cybersex doesn't involve any physical interaction only the exchange of emotions and fantasized feelings. Putting it in context, avatars having sex on Second Life is only a transmission of emotions with the avatars having the somewhat 'physical' contact. I personally don't believe that cybersex can be considered as real sex. Sure they both have 'sex' in there name however, to me real sex is about a more physical connection and one containing love than lust. I think that lust is what fuels cybersex and the reasons why people do these activities. Second Life for instance sells sexual anatomy parts and other tools which help to satisfy this lust.

We're not talking about the Blue Ones.

Avatar: A digital representation of one's self

With the internet comes great power and with great power comes with great responsibilities. Having the ability to create whatever you want with the help of the internet and help sites like the simple facebook and neopets to the truely escapist Second Life, it's hard to know what can be considered real and cyber. How can we say that the love we have for a neopet isn't real? How can we say that marrying someone on second life isn't the start of a new romance?

[Meadows (2008:58)] “People in virtual worlds build things, use them, sell them, trade them and discuss them. When another person confirms what I am seeing, places value on it, spends time working to pay for it, buys it, keeps it, uses it, talks about it, gets emotional about it, and then sells it – this tells me there is something real happening. The suspension of disbelief has become a grounding of belief”

This is Media and there of.

Second Life, created by Linden Labs is an online world where people can live basically an ideal life. Think the sims but without the restrictions and the sim language. A growing enterprise, the average Second Life user is in their mid 30s-40s which would explain why I've never really heard of this internet craze before. The appeal of this site is that people can logon and create an avatar, a representation of one's self. It doesn't necessarily have to be an exact replica, because in Second Life you can be whoever you want to be and do whatever you like. And when I mean whatever I mean whatever. Sex, conceiving children, flying, plastic surgery it's all there ready for you at a click of a button. This fad undertaken by thousands of adults leads people to exchange their own money for 'Linden Dollars' to be used to purchase things like land, clothing and even dare I say the ideal penis.

At this point where I stand to judge the reality of the situation. Are people really getting something out of this site that is real? Are the feelings created real? Can they be really justified by what they do online?

Personally I've never really been a fan of games where you control the life of someone again like the Sims. I find it boring and it makes me feel that I'm neglecting my own life while maintaining the ones in the little computer screen. I've never had a connection of a character created nor had a relationship with another character.

Putting myself in another person's shoes I can understand why some people use these sites. As said before the average people who use Second life are in their older stages in life. And being general they would be people who haven't necessarily achieved what they wanted in life. So I see Second Life for them as exactly that, a way for them to be what they wanted to be and more without doing it in their own reality.

However all of these things done while in Second Life or any platform with a virtual reality isn't real. I don't think that if you get married online that you are or that if you buy something online that you own it in some way. I think it's a way of making the world more complicated. When we dream, at times some of our greatest dreams can come true. You can be with the love of your life or do the unthinkable. Does that make it real because you did it in another world? No, once again it's something that was done in another world besides reality. Sure we develop feelings when playing these games but as humans be tend to develop connects and feelings with anything like dreams. The feelings are real but the creator of those feelings is fake. I could sit here and think of a nice burger and even go to the lengths of going on to Neopets and purchasing one, that might make me feel better or closer to that burger, but it's not real.

We are blurring the lines with what is real in reality and what is fake. Some can argue because the online world is created that means that the things created are somewhat real, however the fact that they are 'somewhat' real make them incomplete and thus not real in my books

Australia First, Extremists Second

Extremist: One who advocates or resorts to measures beyond the norm, especially in politics

The internet is filled with various pages, challenging people's beliefs and passions encouraging people to join things or do things. There are those pages like ones on facebook which encourage fans to join and share their common likes about a topic Twilight dare I say. This post will discuss the group collective; the Extremists while answering the questions whether the Australia First Party can be considered one.

Welcome to the Media and there of.

There are groups which tend to go a bit overboard with their views. These groups have a strong view on certain issues like sexuality, religion, etc... and their views are considered the most important or superior to others. The term to describe these groups is called extremists. Extremists believe in a certain uncompromising way which can be interpreted as radical in regards to their stances. I'll use the example of the Ku Klux Klan. This American group believed in a white country, with strong and harsh views on the treatment of the 'black' african american people and people from other races. What made them extreme were their actions against these people as the KKK would resort to killing these people who didn't follow the roman catholic way. Being a very right wing group they promote racism, anti Catholicism, anti-Communism and nativism.

The Australia First party is a right wing group believing in removing multiculturalism, becoming an independent nation as well as improving the Australian working industries. By utilizing the internet they spread their beliefs and knowledge to potential and current followers through various online media forms from blogs to videos posted on youtube. Their all their beliefs which can be found conveniently on their website under their 'constitution' states:

Item 3.5: Abolish Multiculturalism

End the divisive, government funded and institutionalised policy of multiculturalism.

Item 3.7: Strengthen the family

Promote policies that strengthen and protect the traditional family.

(Source: Australia First Party Website)

And there's plenty more where that came from. I find that for a group who wants Australia to be independent and yet wants to abolish multiculturalism or any differences for that matter is hypocritical as to be a strong nation you have to work harmonize together. As a person who's family migrated to Australia and also has open views to the structure of the modern family I find this group very narrow minded and ignorant that people aren't made the same. Sure in the past people lived much more simpler lives with less rules and opportunities, but hello welcome to 2010 where the American President is half African American and where people are visibly fighting for Gay and Lesbian Rights; we've moved on peoples.

Back to whether this group can be considered as an 'extremist' group. I would say that their views can be considered extreme and radical in nature, however they're just views and not actions. When I define an extremist group I think of the KKK or Extremist Terrorist groups. These groups are well known for their actions than just there words, something which I think makes the 'extreme' as they will do whatever it takes to make their viewpoint a reality. The Australia First Party to me is like other right winged groups who try and sell their beliefs to whoever will listen.