Engaging a
participatory culture
Steve Vosloo
Fellow, 21st century learning
Presented at Accenture CRM conference
Johannesburg, 8 July 2009

a presentation about participatory culture
South Africa
what it means for
business

Web 2.0 ... an “architecture of participation”
(O'Reilly, 2005)

Participatory culture:

creating and sharing
one's creation

members believe their
contributions matter

blogs, podcasts, games,
videos, fan fiction
(Jenkins et al., 2006)

are we a participatory culture?

but it's different ...

it's mobile

Jonathon Donner “there's no better place in
(2009) the world to understand
the future of mobile
internet than SA”

contributions (not only creations)

involvement: light and lo-tech

“SMS can be used to topple
governments and tip elections”
(Rheingold, 2005)

“We are witnessing a first hand account
of an emergent social revolution”
(Kramer, 2009)

connectedness: small and lo-tech

conversation: light and lo-tech

dr.math: what grade are you in? what are you covering in math?
Spark plug: 7
dr.math: grade 7?
Spark plug: yes
dr.math: are u doing "pre algebra" stuff like What is the value of x if x + 3 = 10?
Spark plug: yes
dr.math: ok, so what is the value of x if x + 3 = 10?
Spark plug: 7
dr.math: ok. how about (15 x 2 ) + x = 35
Spark plug: 5
dr.math: I am going to use * for multiply so not to confuse it with x, ok?
Spark plug: ok
dr.math: (2 * x) + 8 = 18
Spark plug: 5
dr.math: very good. can u explain to me how u figured that out?
Spark plug: 18 - 8 is 10 so 2* what is 10 and the answer is 5
dr.math: excellent.

so why participatory? inclusion
ownership
empowerment
people expect it
more innovation
lower costs
connectedness

people expect it age of the prosumer:
“teens and young adults
consider themselves
more than just
consumers and they
want their chance to
produce content and
involve themselves
in the brand more than
ever before”
(Generation Next, 2009)

people expect it Idols 2007
17,960,686 votes
75% from MXit

more innovation engaging “users”
crowd-sourcing design

more innovation “the street will always
innovate in ways
that we can't plan for”
Jan Chipchase (2007)
developing countries
provide real
needs-based
innovation

more innovation “citizens are the biggest
underutilized resource in
service innovation and
delivery”
Prof Matti Hämäläinen
(2009)

more innovation Google Wave
IBM
Proctor & Gamble

lower costs more self-service models
(like banking)
customers provide
information to you

greater connectedness between you and your
customers
between your customers
they will talk about you –
are you listening and
engaging?

“The barriers to self-organisation have collapsed”
(Shirky, 2008)

enabling participation is cheaper
easier
faster
more visible
about more people

conclusion SA is a participatory
culture
engage your customers
through enabling their
participation
not for “feel good”
reasons
they expect it & want it
it's good for business

Thank you
Email
steve.vosloo@shuttleworthfoundation.org
Twitter
www.twitter.com/stevevosloo
Blog
innovatingeducation.wordpress.com
Slides
www.slideshare.net/stevevosloo
www.shuttleworthfoundation.org