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User-generated content (UGC) is a term that has come into the mainstream during 2005 in web publishing and new media content production circles. It refers to on-line content that is produced by users of websites as opposed to traditional media producers such as broadcasters and production companies. It reflects the democratisation of media production through new technologies that are accessible and affordable. These include digital video, blogging, podcasting, mobile phone photography and, of course, wikis. Prominent examples of websites based on User-Generated Content include Flickr, Friends Reunited, FourDocs, YouTube, Revver, Second Life and Wikipedia. The advent of User-Generated Content marks a shift among media organisations from creating on-line content to creating the facilities and framework for non-media professionals (i.e. 'ordinary people') to publish their own content in prominent places. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), for example, set up a User-Generated Content (UGC) team as a pilot in April 2005 with 3 staff. In the wake of the 7 July 2005 London bombings and the Buncefield oil depot fire, the team was made permanent and was expanded, reflecting the arrival in the mainstream of the 'citizen journalist'. During the Buncefield disaster the BBC received over 5,000 photos from viewers. The debate over the publication of the Mohammed cartoons (January 2006) prompted over 22,000 emails from viewers in the first couple of weeks. The BBC does not normally pay for content generated by its viewers. In the twenty-first century user-generated content has been a path to mainstream success for some. Afroman's novelty song Because I Got High became the most requested song on American radio in July of 2002 due to its success on Napster. Internet blogger Maddox's web page The Best Page in the Universe gained significant popularity on the internet leading to the success of his book The Alphabet of Manliness, released during the summer of 2006. In that same summer Brooke Brodack, also known as Brookers, was signed into a talent development deal by Carson Daly based on her short skits on YouTube. There is a distinction between UGC websites which contain open content (distributed under open licences like Creative Commons licences), enabling other users to re-use and remix the video or other content, and those which do not. You Tube is an example of the former, Revver of the latter. Revver bills itself as "the first viral video network that pays. We believe in your talent and your right to share it with the world on your terms." Users get revenue from their work by way of a 50/50 split on advertising revenue generated from ads automatically attached to the UGC video contributions.
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