Generative audiences and social media

The influence of traditional mass media institutions is being challenged by an unprecedented level of audience participation and co-creation in online media production, which has blurred the lines between consumer and producer, audience and public. There are signs suggesting that this convergence has permeated into traditional market areas such as the tourism industry and the music industry respectively. Internet-based social media tools like blogs, podcasts, online video and social network websites, have given voice to the opinions of millions of individual consumers worldwide. And while traditional mass media (namely television, radio and print) continue to be central to the dissemination of (mainstream) information, these traditional channels are increasingly being influenced by those online conversations taking place in the social media