Community Media 2.0 - “Web 1.0 was about commerce. Web 2.0 is about people” – Ross Mayfield, Socialtext

Web 2.0 is a term that describes the widespread development and adoption of technologies and services designed to increase participation, collaboration and the democratization of information. Without a doubt, our communities are negotiating a whole new mass media landscape, yet our roles in our communities remain basically the same. CAT is an integral part within a real community overflowing with a richness of local color and history; we are in a position to bring out meaningful interactions and facilitate discussions within our community in a way that no corporate service would ever dare. Our residents are searching for meaningful, personal relationships with their neighbors that will enrich their experiences living in our city and make their own perspectives part of the public discourse.

Our constituents are looking for ways to group, rally, bond and commiserate on the reflections of their every day lives here in Fayetteville and we have created more opportunities for our citizens to connect directly with each other. There is no substitute for meaningful personal relationships and here at CAT we are applying technology to supplement our real world community building. The term “participatory culture” is intended to contrast with older notions of media spectatorship. In the emerging media system, what might traditionally be understood as media producers and consumers are transformed into participants who are expected to interact with each other according to a new set of rules.

We are entering a new communications era, an era dubbed by some as “web 2.0”. More content is moving to the internet. “On-demand” media is growing by leaps and bounds. Consumers are spending less time on their couches watching TV and more time on the move with mobile media devices. Anyone with a digital camera can produce and post their own media for a global audience. And, nearly a quarter of the nation’s internet users say they participate in online social networks. We are shifting from our well-worn “TV-centric” (one-to-many) model to a “network-centric” (many-to-many) model of communications and social influence. Here at Community Access Television we are finding answers deep within our community relationships, our ability to help people tell their stories and our knowledge of media production and distribution tools. Community Media 2.0 initiates community media centers dedicated to building on these pillars of technology to ensure public access in our community, free speech and open networks for everyone.

The importance of building many personal relationships which CAT has cultivated over the years is key since we view our center as a “hub” that brings together all kinds of people and we are better able to invite them to participate – to watch, produce, volunteer, donate and tell-a-friend about new programs, events, action alerts and more. Now we are planning our communications strategy. Traditional communication strategies – public events, press releases, public access programs – are now amplified by web 2.0 tools. We are implementing e-newsletters, video blogs, RSS feeds, and various social networking applications to support community building, free speech and the public’s access to the spectrum. We will continue to serve as “trusted providers” of community media services in the web 2.0 era, and will leverage the power of our human networks and the new generation of digital, online tools.

Even though YouTube and Google Video are full of short clips of teenagers falling down and housecats chasing laser pointers it proves our culture has powerful media making tools at its fingertips. It is our job at CAT to help our community-members focus and rally to make media that really matters. Come down to your Community Access Television station today and take a class in digital video or attend one of our More for Your Mondays technology workshops each Monday at 7pm. The first Monday: Basic Internet, Second Monday: Blogging, Third Monday: Uploading Video to sites like YouTube, and Fourth Monday is Funday Munday with various fun topics related to community media. Access offers a community and local voice and a physical and conceptual place for residents to come together. Visit us online at: www.catfayetteville.com