Topic 5 – Open Access & Freely accessible content online
The 5th and final topic for this module is about open source and online content that are freely accessible online. More specifically, this post will;
“Explain the advantages and disadvantages to a content producer of making their materials freely available online.”
Content that is freely available online have a lot of advantages, especially for the users of that product. Making content freely available online can have both advantages and disadvantages for the creator, but first, let us have a look on what making the content freely available online really means. Examples of free online resources can be mainly everything you can access online without paying to use or access it.
YouTube is a channel were all of it’s users have chosen this method to publish their material. Public blogs, picture sharing sites and some websites all have this “business model” in common. In some cases, open source software is also an example of this. Open source does not mean that is freely available, but this is often the case. For some, this method of sharing is just convenient, or just because they haven’t considered the other possibilities of sharing. For some entrepreneurial minded people and businesses, making their content freely available online is a strategic decision.
Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages for content creators that are making their content freely available online:
Advantages
- Reach a bigger audience – not limited only to people with high income
- Online encyclopedias – spread knowledge and wisdom to a mass of people
- “Contributing to the greater good” – free e-books, encyclopedias, free journals/articles etc.
- Raise awareness of brand/name and other products (for a company)
Disadvantages:
- No income from the content published/product (unless sponsored/financed in other ways)
- Lack of credibility of author (published work in not recognized journals)
- Audience may think it is not a trustworthy source (not recognized journals)
- Lack of recognition in the “academic world” (if not published in trustworthy/recognized journals)
DIY (Do it yourself) blogs, videos and tutorials are often open access and are made by people with interest in this area and want nothing but sharing their hobbies, interests and knowledge – to help people. They also create a name for themselves when coming up with good ideas and tips that are being shared between people on social medias.
Other types of free content online can be recipes or business tips.
Passionforbaking, a norwegian blogger shares recipes on her very successful blog, which is accessible for everyone with an internet connection, and has gotten a lot of attention from people sharing her recipes etc online. She also sells books and partnered up with a “baking brand” where she got her own line of products within their brand. In this example you can see how the open access strategy made her other products more successful and the awareness of her as a brand to increase.
Jeff Bullas’ blog, gives tips to businesses in the posted articles and on twitter. The business model here is similar to the recipe blog, additional products such as books and consulting are being offered for a fee.
To summarize, there are advantages and disadvantages with making your content open access or freely available online as with everything in this world. As mentioned, this is a strategic decision for businesses and more of a “normal thing to do” for a person that just wants to share their pictures, tips, thoughts and opinions with the world. Publishing it online and making it free for everyone to see and use may not be directly linked to income unless the blog for an example is sponsored or has advertising on it. The income could also be generated from other products under the same brand or group, and the freebie generates awareness for the brand. One thing everything that are made freely available online has in common is the big audience they potentially will have and the advantages (financially at least) they give to the consumers.
Projects such as making textbooks for educational purposes open access have also been done, read more about how this works here.
