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Why has user-created content challenged established media companies?
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media convergence
In addition to functioning as a cell phone, Apple's touchscreen iPhone, released in 2007, has a built-in Web browser for viewing Internet content over wireless telephone networks and Wi-Fi connections. The iPhone also can be used as a multimedia playback device for listening to music or viewing videos.
In the context of media convergence, user-created content has challenged established media companies by disrupting their traditional role as the exclusive gatekeepers of information and entertainment. This shift is driven by several key factors:12
- Loss of Market Control: User-created content is often cheaper to produce and freely available, which undercuts the market dominance of professional media organizations. As advertising revenue has migrated online, social media platforms have frequently profited from content reported by traditional outlets without providing those outlets with direct revenue.2
- Shift in Power Dynamics: The rise of the "produser"—individuals who are both consumers and creators—has eroded the asymmetrical relationship that defined 20th-century mass communication. By enabling two-way communication, digital platforms allow audiences to bypass traditional media, forcing organizations to compete for attention against nonprofessionals.132
- Disruption of Gatekeeping: Through citizen journalism, individuals can document and disseminate news firsthand, challenging the authority and agenda-setting power of professional journalists.2
- Audience Fragmentation: The ability for users to produce and share content has led to a proliferation of niche media, fragmenting the mass audiences that traditional companies once relied upon.3