The rise of the prosumption has been facilitated by the collaboration of producers and consumers coming together to co-create goods and services and then consuming what has been produced. Toffler (1980) (as referenced in Ritzer and Jurgenson 2010:17) introduced the term prosumer in his book The Third Wave. He predicted as how as a society we had slowly become accustom to being a prosumer.
We as a society have slowly become accustom to being a prosumer from using cash points, self service checkouts and kiosks for checking into hotels, and printing plane tickets. Some consumers find this enjoyable while others realise that the company providing the good or service is eliminating staff, but are doing so and passing the savings onto the prosumer. Another group of people feel capitalism is taking advantage and making money off prosumers. Ryanair and Aerlingus charge a handling fee for booking a ticket online, and charge a larger fee to book over the phone or in person. They like to make us feel like we are empowered however they are taking advantage of us.
Bloom (2006) derived the definition of prosumer into ‘a blurring of roles of producer and consumer’ and believes it now describes people who have professional knowledge but are producing amateur content which is especially prevalent with the introduction of Web 2.0, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter. Previously Web 1.0 was provider generated content but we have quickly moved on. (Collins 2010) Youtube’s ‘broadcast yourself’ has created a community based on collaborate sharing around these centres of prosumption. Youtube has created a ‘mass adoption of digital technologies and (created) the rise of Web 2.0 applications’. These prosumers are creating discussions, blogging, sharing opinions and spreading information to be enjoyed by all.
The market is full of content that is freely produced in abundance by producers who are not charging for their work. Wee have consumers who want to