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AC/E digital culture ANNUAL REPORT 2014THEME 2Crowdsourcing: shared cultureby Tíscar Lara http://tiscar.com/tiscar‐lara @tiscarPARTICIPATIVE CULTURE ON THE NETThe ability to share any everyday experience through the use of mobile devices and social networks has also given rise to new kinds of cultural consumption, mixing the codes of professionals and amateurs and changing forever the meaning of a musical event or a visit to a museum.Going through an experience is not enough if one cannot say in real time that you are doing so and say so not just to groups close to you, but also other sectors of the public, unknown and potentially massive. These days it is hard to imagine a TV programme or an exhibition that does not have a label or “hashtag” in the corner calling for comment from the networks, a call to action that connects you in a moment to the whole of the social flux that we are just one click away from sharing the experience with. The strength of the power for viralisation that the Internet possesses through the content that circulates on it, the contamination of ideas and user‐produced material on it make up what Delia Rodríguez (2013) recently called “memecracy”, which she defines as a new social revolution.This set of new tools for network collaboration has given rise to user behaviours that the American researcher Henry Jenkins dubbed several years ago “participative culture”, with the following characteristics:1. It imposes scarcely any barriers on artistic expression or public commitment.AC/E2. Strong support is perceived to make and share personal creations with others.3. A sort of informal tutelage is offered by which the knowledge of the more expert is passed on to the less experienced.4. The members believe that their contributions are valued.5. The members feel some sort of social connection with each other (in which at least account is taken of what other people think of what has been created).6. Not all members need contribute, but at least they all feel free to contribute when they are ready, in the confidence that their contribution will be valued appropriately.Isaac Mao coined the term “sharism” to refer to participative culture from another viewpoint. For Mao, it is a mental state that drives us to share knowledge through an innate property of our brains which is always ready to establish neuronal relations and participate in creative processes:The more open and strongly connected our social neurons are, the better the sharing environment will be for all people. The more collective our intelligence, the wiser our actions will be. People have always found better solutions through conversations. Now we can put it all online.WHAT IS CROWDSOURCING?To answer this question let us begin with a source that is unconfirmed, whose author is unknown, and yet is regarded as one of the most useful referenceWHERE WE ARE HEADING: DIGITAL TRENDS IN THE WORLD OF CULTURETHEME 2: CROWDSOURCING: SHARED CULTURE CURRENT PAGE...20