Abstract
Chapter 3 is a case study of Random House’s RandomBuzzers.com (RandomBuzzers, 2011) website. This early participatory site dedicated to the publisher’s teen consumers adds user-generated peer-to-peer reviews to the tradition of librarian-based reviews in journals such as Kirkus, School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and the Horn Book. On this site, teens received free advance review copies of young adult books in exchange for writing reviews of such titles. Participating teens received “Buzz Bucks,” a currency earned for their affective labor, which could be used on the site to buy Random House products (such as more books), and were awarded with badges they could display with their user profiles (a form of cultural capital). Using RandomBuzzers.com as a case study, this chapter examines how technology enables a convergence of reader and critic. At the time of the research, several publishers developed interactive sites for teens with a focus on peer-to-peer reviewing, including Little, Brown’s Hip Scouts (LB Teens, n.d.) and Simon and Schuster’s Pulse It (Pulse It, 2009). RandomBuzzers was chosen for this study because it was more sophisticated than the others—especially because it offered a form of payment to its participants.
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Notes
- 1.
As of this writing, Penguin Putnam and Random House are now collectively Penguin Random House.
- 2.
Eragon has unique teen appeal as the author, Christopher Paolini, started writing the book when he was only fifteen years old.
- 3.
Precise dates are not listed on site—instead, they are listed as approximations, such as “almost two years ago.” This post was viewed January 17, 2015.
- 4.
Nanowrimo is National Novel Writing Month (http://nanowrimo.org/), and in addition to being an activity during the month of November during which people are encouraged to write their own novels, it is also a non-profit that “organizes events where children and adults find the inspiration, encouragement, and structure they need to achieve their creative potential” http://nanowrimo.org/about. Figment has a similar goal of getting young people engaged with writing.
- 5.
For more information about Maker Spaces, see https://youthserviceslibrarianship.wikispaces.com/Makerspaces
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Martens, M. (2016). From RandomBuzzers to Figment: Teens’ Affective and Immaterial Labor. In: Publishers, Readers, and Digital Engagement. New Directions in Book History. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51446-2_4
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