case study

"Audiences are no longer just consumers of texts, but producers too" - To what extent is this true of the media products in your case study?

I will be looking at three media products, all of which are of the childrens genre. My three primary texts are SpongeBob Squarepants, Peppa Pig and Phineas and Ferb, and all of them operate on the three media platforms, that are; print, broadcast and E-media. Spongebob is a childrens american animated series, aimed at both male and females around the age of 3-10 years old. Peppa Pig also is a childrens animated show but aimed at a much younger audience of 1-5 years old and Phineas and Ferb is aimed at 6-14 year olds.  The audiences of these text can all take an active role in the media today, using their websties to play games and get involved in the competitions for example.

How do Phineas and Ferb use e-media to involve the audience?

There is a line that is drawn between a consumer and a producer, where the consumer would take the text in, they would be able to watch, or read a text, and the producer would produce this for them, they would be in control of what the content would contain. However this line that distinguishes the both is slowly disappearing, consumers are now able to “become producers” of what they are watching. Children are prone to this especially, being able to participate in competitions, changing the programmes they watch. For example children can now become a part of the show by appearing in part of it, therefore they are able to change the programme itself to what they want and what they like, for example in Phineas and Ferb have competitions where the audience can appear as characters in an opening sequence of the show. This can be done by uploading a picture of them self, “turning something ordinary into something extraordinary”, relating to programme, as it is about two young boys who do extraordinary things out of something ordinary.

This can make the audience question whether we are in control of what we watch, that we have the power to change the content of shows we consume, posing the question are we the producers. With Phineas and Ferb being aimed at 6-14 years, they too are becoming producers of what they are watching, because they are able to change things within it to suit them. This helps encourage the children to become more involved and more encouraged to produce more ideas for them, and with the audiences recognising this can help give young children more confidence to pursue this. This appeals to the audience because they are seeing their own content and ideas on the show that they like to watch, they are becoming the producers.

User generated content is also used to involve the audience, for example in phineas and ferb, the producers are involving the audience to help promote “national platypus day” as there is a platypus in the programme posing as an undercover agent. On the website, the character who gives the commands in the show to Perry the platypus creates a video talking to the audience. He calls them “agent” saying “we need you” involving the audience and making it look like he is talking directly to the person watching it, drawing them in and taking commands from him to help create this “national platypus day”. This allows the audience to become involved and actually help create content and bring something fiction to life. This can appeal to the audience and help get them more involved as they are helping to produce something.


The show spongebob squarepants also uses user generated content, for example, the audiences have created a fan on facebook, for them to interact with spongebob as a real character in the world. The fan page allows people to "speak" to spongebob, ask him questions, make suggestions for the show, thus allowing him to become "real" to the audience, "spongebob" also replies back to some comments, therefore making the fact that he is real even more true to the audience. The audiences input allow them to become producers of the show by posting their opinions or ideas on the fan page, with people looking at this and taking notice, allowing them to become apart of it. 
"hate" pages can also be created, this too is user generated content, pages have been created about peppa pig and also the other characters in the shows such as the rabbit, where audiences have commented on the character, this allowing the producers of peppa pig to see this and see what other audiences think of the show, if they take notice audiences can then become some what like producers because they can help change the show and persuade the producers to make adjustments.