Online Evaluation of Creativity and the Arts (Routledge Studies in New Media and Cyberculture)

Social media have dramatically popularized practices of evaluation, especially of cultural products and artistic expressions. The practices of "liking" and rating any shared contents such as music to blogs, film, videos, photographs to artwork and performances are ubiquitous in today’s digital environments. As a result, creative producers are increasingly developing reputations and careers through a complex blend of online social reputation management and distribution platforms, and more longstanding forms of marketing channels and professional evaluation. In this context, Online Evaluation of Creativity and the Arts seeks to examine the newly emerging forms of evaluation, such as contests, competitions, ranking, commenting, liking, and rating, which are taking place in digital environments. In doing so, this book investigates the criteria and assessment practices tied to the evaluation of creativity and artistic works and further questions what is at stake when digital environments heighten the role of amateur and peer criticism to the level of expert critiques. While exploring potential informal learning opportunities and offering incisive critiques on the emerging norms and standards of evaluation, the essays in this book cover a wide range of artistic and creative practices.

H. Cecilia Suhr is Assistant Professor of Digital Media at Miami University-Hamilton and Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Art at Miami University, USA.