User-generated content has emerged as the new trend not only in online media, advertising, and marketing but also among young creatives using online web platforms. Businesses and online media are transforming Internet users from consumers into creators thanks to user-generated content and a participative web.
What exactly is user-generated content then? It is somewhat basic really, as I stay here composing this article I’m contributing what we call client produced content; content that is created and shared by Internet users and is made up of a variety of media and creative works. Written, audio, visual, or a combination of the three are all forms of creative media. In reality, one’s imagination is the only thing that can stop them.
Wikipedia is a great illustration of a business that depends on user-generated content; a collection of entities with a single page that provide information about particular subjects based on user contributions and edits. By editing the content of the pages and adding information or sources, any user can contribute to the collaboration.
Wikipedia is a great example of user-generated content, but it is not the best example of how user-generated works are creatively used. Artist Girltalk is a great example of how young creatives can use user-generated content. Girltalk is a musician during the day and works in an office collecting biological data at night. He is sort of a musician because he makes what are called mashups to turn something old into something new. He will, for instance, make a mashup by combining the beat of one track with lyrics from another. He then successfully distributes his brand-new song across a number of social and online platforms. Girltalk has a large following, and it has inspired other creative people to join in the mashup fun, which has taken the form of videos, songs, and even rewriting the plots of popular screenplays.