If you want something done, do it yourself
IDEA No 87
USER-GENERATED CONTENT
Ever since there has been content, there has been user-generated content (UGC). In fact, it only became user-generated when it had an opposite – professionally made content produced for broadcast.
In this context, UGC’s earliest form is ‘letters to the editor’. But as these are often aligned with a particular publication’s tone and politics, they have little in common with UGC as we now understand it. User-generated content today has an anarchic quality. An extension of the DIY ethic of punk culture, its roots are in fanzines, mix tapes and pirate radio, a reaction against the mass-media machine.
The roots of the Web lie in this DIY culture. Its precursor, bulletin boards, was created by individuals for individuals. There was no commercial return, no editorial policy and little censorship. Anybody could say anything. As the Web took hold, this attitude pervaded the forums and chat rooms that were the mainstay of the early Web.
The mid-’90s saw the commercialization of the Web. Brands and broadcasters impressed their traditional, one-way communication models on this new medium. For a while they were successful, but this was not sustainable. The dot-com companies that survived the crash understood this – they had UGC at their heart. Amazon’s point of difference is its customer reviews; eBay is built on a peer-to-peer market; Google depends on user-generated links; Wikipedia is entirely written and edited by its users; even Google depends on user-generated links.
The advent of blogs was a tipping point. Users had taken back control of their space. The first blogging platform, Open Diary, launched in 1998 with the slogan ‘Read Life. Write Life’. It signalled the start of the social-media revolution.
Blogs started the revolution, but it was fuelled by the consumer electronics industry. Digital cameras and smartphones provided a means for self-expression never before available. New platforms, like Myspace, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube, emerged to help us to connect and share this content. We have not looked back.
User-generated content is at the heart of the Web – a reaction against 100 years of passive media consumption. Whenever we participate in something, we increase our understanding of it. This is the true value of UGC. Rather than let the world wash over us, we play an active role in shaping it.■
‘Blogs started the UGC revolution, but it was fuelled by the consumer electronics industry.’
A selection of user-created frames from Aaron Koblin and Chris Milk’s ‘Johnny Cash Project’. The user-generated video evolves as more people participate.