Chapter 6: Digitalization, Participation, and Science: Citizen Science as Type(s) of Prosumption

Internet and digital technologies have provided users with new opportunities and a scale of participation and collaboration. Two decades of such practices on the so-called social Internet and other applications of digital technologies manifest in different social effects and changes. These changes are closely related to the creation and dissemination of knowledge and information. To define the participation of nonprofessionals in scientific activities, the concept of citizen science is often invoked. However, it does not cover all forms of participation enabled by digital technologies. This chapter analyzes in what forms citizen science manifests in practice and proposes to approach it as a type(s) of prosumption. The concept of prosumption, which is often invoked in studies of digitalization processes, marks the merging of production and consumption (and, in a broader sense, creation and use), and is intended to analyze the users’ productive practices. This concept is a useful analytical instrument to study the motivations of actors who engage in such activities, including in the field of science. Conducting a cluster analysis of European citizen science projects and evaluating the manifold forms of participation that digitalization has brought about, this chapter aims to propose a new strategy for studying the participation of nonprofessionals in scientific activities.