Rushkoff (as cited in Bruns 2008) suggests “the rise of interactive media does provide us with the beginning of new metaphors for cooperation, new faith in the power of networked activity and new evidence of our ability to participate actively in the authorship of our collective destiny”. The rise of this media has ultimately led to this notion of produsage as explored in my previous posts. But to what extent can this concept of produsage be applied? Is it possible for this approach to be translated from the digital realm to create a physical product?

There have been suggestions indicating both sides of the equation. As von Hippel (as cited in Bruns 2008) states “production and diffusion of physical products involve activities with significant economies of scale”. He is ultimately suggesting that the translation of produsage unlikely. However there has been the suggestion by Bauwens (as cited in Bruns 2008) that as physical products contain an informational layer there is a possibility for produsage to be employed in the design stage. There are many limits to the scope that produsage can have outside the digital realm; however there is clearly untapped potential.

As public relations is about mutually beneficial relationships and symmetrical communication this informational aspect could be employed to influence the collateral constructed for cliental. Alternatively there have been suggestions that physical products have the potential to be morphed into these liquid artifacts. However given the nature of the products this may not be possible for public relations.

But what does this mean for the future of produsage? As suggested in discussions re: the lasting posting, to gain the most from this innovative social production we must strip away the competition element and emphasize creativity and cooperation. Thus mean in order to truly find success within this new framework of produsage and the emerging concept of Pro-Ams, companies must incorporate this internally as opposed to battling it externally. “The twentieth century was shaped by large hierarchical organisations with professionals at the top. Pro-Ams are creating new, distribute organisational models that will be innovative, adaptive and low-cost” (Leadbeater & Miller as cited in Bruns 2008).

The nature of business is forever changing. Web 2.0 has put in motion a far more rapid series of changes. Businesses, in particular public relations professionals, must internalize all these aspects in order to maintain continued success.