Participatory culture in an emerging information ecosystem: Lessons from Ushahidi

Abstract

The activities surrounding new communication technologies (NCTs), more than the technology itself, have introduced new perspectives in the field of media studies, especially with the intensification of audience participation. This participation is imbued with the potential to challenge dominant voices and national myths, alter the representation and meaning of symbols and vocabulary, and redefine politico-social structures into which the luminal rituals of the national have been interwoven, for the sole purpose of fostering national cohesion. But it is the universal nature of NCTs that has significantly imbued local cultures with a global consciousness, thus altering the previous global flow of information. By using Ushahidi – open source software for information gathering and interactive mapping, which started as a blog in Kenya and is now used across the globe – the study demonstrates NCTs’ efficacy in engendering multiplicity of alternative voices which do not necessarily flow from the global North.

Keywords:

• Africa
• audience participation
• Kenya
• national vs. global
• new communication technologies
• Ushahidi