A way to enter the study of popular culture in America

Convergence culture is a term I learned from Henry Jenkins' book by that name. By convergence Jenkins means “the flow of content across multiple media platforms, among other things. He goes on to say that “convergence represents a cultural shift as consumers are encouraged to seek out new information and make connections among dispersed media content. Jenkins also uses the term participatory culture to refer to the interaction between producers and consumers of popular culture who are more likely within the culture of convergence to interact with one another. Voting for your favorite contestant on American Idol, participating in a fan-oriented web site for a popular TV program, producing your own commercials to appear on YouTube.com, and the social networking that takes place on Facebook.com and Myspace.com might qualify as examples. Finally, Jenkins refers to collective intelligence, a term he gleaned from French cybertheorist Pierre Levy, as the pooling of resources and combined skills of consumers as an alternative to a powerful centralized media. Blogging might serve as an example. These terms will be our guiding light this semester as we begin our exploration of popular culture in America.