Convergence Culture

I’ve had a hugely busy couple of weeks, but in those discretionary moments when I'm not typing furiously into a laptop – usually while waiting for subway trains, streetcars or buses – I have been reading Henry Jenkin’s Convergence Culture. This is a core text for understanding the communications channels, forms, and communities in which brand culture is practiced.

The first two chapters are must-reads for those interested in brand culture. Jenkins opens his book with analyses of Survivor, The Apprentice, and American Idol, looking at the structure of the shows and the participation of their audiences. The engagement of the fan communities were engines for a broader, mass market enthusiasm. Of special interest were the ways the show creators interacted with the audiences, entering into a multidirectional/multimodal conversation played out across many channels and generating a vast knowledge and countless hours of involvement with the entertainment brands, and the sponsor brands as well.

The rest of the book is pure gold, too, but I’m going to massacre his elegant presentations with my summaries so you should probably just read it.