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THE CONSUMER AS PRODUCER—OF WHAT?

The rise of user-generated content (UGC) is often thought to blur further the distinction between (media) producers and (media) consumers. Many media organizations, in particular newspapers, have developed extensive sections of their Web pages based on UGC. But there is still relatively little discussion of the exact relationship between producing and consuming in these sections. What is being produced and what is being consumed? Does the blurring of the producer–consumer represent a real shift in power away from traditional media/news organizations, or is the rise of UGC just a way for newspapers to get content produced “for free”? This article analyses UGC provision in two tabloid newspapers, The Sun (UK) and Aftonbladet (Sweden)—both newspapers generally considered to be very successful in terms of their online presence—by comparing (1) the levels of involvement required by users, (2) the types of content produced, and (3) the modes of production used. The results show that both tabloids are similar in that they provide users with the opportunity to generate mostly popular culture-oriented content and personal/everyday life-oriented content, but little or no opportunity to generate news/information-oriented content.