CONVERGENCE | Jenkins

                Jenkins understands the convergence culture as something that is inevitable. Convergence culture is a process in which technological, industrial, cultural, and social relationships evolve and change the way each interacts with the other. He says, “Convergence alters the relationship between existing technologies, industries, markets, genres, and audiences. Convergence alters the logic by which media industries operate and by which media consumers process news and entertainment.” Convergence is something that happens over time as people come up with new relationships between technologies, new trends, and new media outlets. These interactions cause a snowball effect and influence the way corporations and businesses market to their consumers and how consumers react to advertising and marketing campaigns over all types of media outlets.

                Creative engagement has to do with getting more people involved in the convergence. When convergence occurs, it merges old and new media. When a new media is created, it takes a while for everyone to get used to it. Creative engagement is a tool used by companies to keep their membership and customer loyalty. 

Long Tail Theory & Surfing the Net

My understanding of the Long Tail theory is exemplified perfectly by the rare breed of “hipsters”. Chris Anderson’s Long Tail Theory states that our culture and economy is shifting away from mainstream products that are located on the head of the long tail curve, but instead to the exponential downward slope of niche products. Abercrombie, American Eagle, Forever 21, etc, for example are placed in the head. The mainstream popularity is strong, but there are limited amount of available products. Hipsters would not be caught dead in something so mainstream (unless it’s like, totally vintage Abercrombie). Instead there is a growing popularity in the products that may be widely available, but not as mainstream. Thrift Stores, expensive boutiques in New York, Etsy shops from Timbuktu and your grandma’s closet are better example of markets located in the tail. The availability of old Hawaiian shirts or handmade necklaces may be very high in these markets, but the demand is not that strong (unless you are a hipster, that is).

Call me Kelly Slater or Bethany Hamilton—because I’m a surfer. It happens all too often that think of something that I would like to purchase, be it a bathing suit, a camera, a pair of shoes, so I go to an online retailer and see what they have. It’s not long before I realize that I have been on that website for thirty minutes and wasn’t even looking for what I came for in the first place! I get side tracked, I look at the sale section, the new arrivals, the accessories, for what exactly? I’ll never know. I could browse the internet for hours and not even realize time has passed. I hate to admit that this is not a onetime thing—oh no. I go back to said website ever season so see what’s on sale, what’s new, and what the new trends are. I’m a surfer and I’ve wasted way too much time surfing the net.