Produsage as a form of self-publication. A qualitative study of casual news produsage

Abstract

While Axel Bruns's theory of produsage offers an adequate way of looking at a variety of sites where the production of news content takes the form of collaborative, user-driven production, it seems less suited for the study of productive news use as a user experience, as a way users engage in a more productive way with content. This article gives a first impetus towards the expansion of the theory of produsage to a more user-oriented framework that is fitted to approach produsage as a social practice, rather than as a process of information production. The empirical work presented in this paper concerns the average news user, rather than the expert bloggers and citizen journalists most studies tend to focus on. Through a qualitative, semi-experimental study based on a Living Lab-approach, motivational, situational, and social factors shaping productive news use are identified. Drawing from the findings, conceptual elements as “potential public” and “social reflex” are introduced. Self-publication is proposed as a way to understand how average news users experience productive news use.