My Produsage Experiences

My previous post describes a produser as productive users, or produsers, engaged in the act of produsage.
In my personal life, I am a member of some online communities where I could be considered a “limited” produser.
As a member of Netflix, I select movies on my queue and rate movies that I have seen. This information is collected and helps inform Netflix of my interests as well as popular interests of the community. Netflix then suggests new titles to me and the community based on our selections. For example, “members who enjoyed this movie also enjoyed these…”
I am also a member of allrecipes.com, where people share recipes. Not only are you able to view recipes, you are able to view ratings and recommendations. Here you can see helpful hints, like “needs extra garlic” or “only use half the oil!” As you search for recipes, the site offers alternative recipes that may better suit your needs. I have rated recipes and added a helpful hint. I have not yet posted my own recipe though.
Both of these sites offer open participation and communal evaluation. Movies and recipes may rise and fall as leaders depending on requests, but not people. When a recipe is highlighted as a “recipe of the week” the author is also recognized. The recipes are unfinished artefacts as hints and suggestions change them depending on the taste of the reviewers. Content remains available and members are motivated to participate for the shared communal purpose; there is a limited reward though.
Outside of the technology realm, I would consider myself a produser in the intentional community where I live. I am an active member in groups and I participate in conversations about improvements and moving our community forward. I am not motivated by personal gain, but rather the good of the community. These groups are open to all members, yet there is limited time spent on evaluation. We solve problems with a probabilistic approach, through trial and error. While we all have different skills and experiences, all members are able to contribute. However, as members contributions become less useful, they rarely drift to the outside of the community to make room for more useful contributors. This is an area for improvement as well as an increased granularity of projects to encourage more participation. Our improvement and sustainability are ongoing projects as we are faced with new challenges from replacing the roof on our community center to preparing our common spaces for our aging population.
I discuss my professional produsage on this week's discussion board.