While hearing one presentation in particular about the future of media, entitled Transmedia, I started to get really worried. The presenter, Dr. Siobhan O’Flynn, discussed how fan remixes might become the future of interactions between brands and their followers. She talked about how in 2009, Thomas May pointed to a new orientation called “fandependent”.

From one perspective, this could sound great to those that are fans of music bands, television shows, and movies, but what I saw in the presentation was more about how brands like Tide and Ford could take advantage of this process.

The idea is that brands get to test the response and use content created by fans to continue to promote and grow their brand. I had what I consider an important question to ask, and never got the chance to do so. My unanswered question was, shouldn’t companies be worried that content creators in their community might get tired of big brand run campaigns due to the potential commercialism of them?

To me, it seemed like the end goal was really to take advantage of the community, and their creativity, while providing very little in return.

Community isn’t currency. It isn’t something you should be converting into dollars and cents. The fact that it exists should alone be of value, and trying to convert community into money, in my mind, only serves to reduce the community. There is almost an inherit exchange rate, and if you don’t cultivate community, communicate with your membership and give them a reason to interact, then you are abusing the relationship and the expectations.

These issues weren’t dealt with during Dr. O’Flynn’s presentation, and as such, I’m not sure where she stands on community, but the presentation I saw didn’t seem to address it in a comforting way. I love the idea that brands can be a major contributor in getting independent movies and media out into the world, but there is a thin line between helping and hurting, and I just don’t know if there are any sort of rules or best practices that keep the underlying community and creative people safe from exploitation.

What do you think? Are you a form of currency? Would you potentially compromise your creativity in order to make more money? Or on the flip side, have you been helped by the resources given to you by a company or brand so that you could be creative?

Have your say in the comments below.