User-generated content - v. 3.0

All the hoopla surrounding keeping Sanjaya on American Idol would normally not register with me (not a fan of the show) - until I began to see the parallel between lonelygirl15 and marketing companies infiltration of user-generated content for their own means.

For those not aware - Vote for the Worst and Howard Stern are asking listeners/watchers, etc. to vote for American Idol contestant Sanjaya - because as VftW puts it:

"American Idol is not about singing at all, it's about making good reality TV and enjoying the cheesy, guilty pleasure of watching bad singing. We agree that a fish out of water is entertaining, and we want to acknowledge this fact by encouraging people help the amusing antagonists stick around. VFTW sees keeping these contestants around as a golden opportunity to make a more entertaining show."

Apparently Sanjaya fits the bill this time around...for Howard I'd say it's more about F-ing with the producers.

What does this mean for user-generated content?

More later....