“The fact is just that people are finally realizing what it’s about” - Analyzing the changing work practices of communication professionals

This research focuses on analyzing the changes that the shift towards a so-called participatory culture has brought into the work practices of communication professionals. Technological developments have resulted into increased availability and overwhelming amount of information as the number of communication channels has multiplied, and changed the way in which audiences participate and create content. While thinking of the magnitude and speed of the transformations in the media landscape, it is interesting to analyze how communication professionals are dealing with these changes. The theoretical framework of this research provides a broad overview of the field and gives some concrete examples of the shift towards participatory culture. The chosen method for this research is indepth interviews, as the aim is to analyze the perceptions of communication professionals in greater depth. It was discovered that even though the essence of the profession remains the same, the shift towards participatory culture has indeed changed not only the way the professionals approach their work but also some concrete work practices. As the amount of third parties such as social media influencers and the time spent on working with owned media has increased, professionals are working less with traditional media. Therefore, greater amount of content than ever before is produced in communication agencies and departments. Due to these changes communication professionals are able to have direct contact with their audiences, which together with the increased participation from the audience, has led to leaving the sender-perspective behind and adapting a more user-focused perspective. Therefore, creating dialogue, facilitating peer-to-peer discussions and forming of communities and aiming to be part of the communication rather than the sender of information has become important when working as a communicator. Because of the increased produsage and creation of user-generated content, the control that professionals used to have over the messages and content that was published has decreased, and therefore, flexibility, adaptability and improvisation skills have become valuable assets when working as a communication professional in the fast-moving landscape characterized by wide variety of communication channels. This research advocates that in order to be a successful communicator in this landscape, flexibility and improvisation together with the ability to have a more holistic perspective and be included in decision-making processes are important skills to master.