Prosumer A prosumer is a person who consumes and produces a product In the 1980 book, the third wave, futurologist Alvin Toffler coined the term 'prosumer' when he predicted that the role of producers and consumers would begin to blur and merge People have moved from being CONsumers to PROsumers with far more influence than ever before No longer are businesses completely in control of their products, brands and messages. Today, consumers are in control. The leaders of the shift are the members of the social web - bloggers, vloggers, social networking participants, etc who spread messages, influence people around the world, and drive demand. Prosumers like Zoe Sugg can control all stages of the production process helping to make online media a specialised industry (vertical integration) How has the internet impacted on media industries? Disrupted the power structures that traditionally operate within the media (Curran and Seaton - socially diverse pattern of ownership) However