User Generated Content

What is UGC?
User Generated Content can be in the form of posts on discussion groups, personal or departmental blogs, Photographs taken on a mobile phone, and video's, sites like Youtube, Facebook and Blog sites would be a good example of this.
"Can users and UGC create some kind of content Utopia where users selflessly share their expert knowledge without expecting any personal gain, or is it going to be a case of the inmates running the asylum?"
The opposition of this is Engineered Content, provided to us by a professional content provider. For example the BBC Journalists providing a news story.

The differences between user-generated and engineered content extend beyond the issue of who's providing it. There are issues of Ownership, Quality and Relevence, Structure and Credibility.

The Pros and Cons of User-Generated Content
Pros	Cons
Many more methods of content entry, making it less restrictive A wider content provider base means more areas of knowledge can be covered Provides knowledge experts who aren't part of the intranet team with a medium in which to share their knowledge Allows all users the choice of becoming intranet participants rather than just spectators	Might cause content overlap or duplication The credibility of the source and the content might not always be apparent The easy availability of content submission media might cause less-than-helpful users to post biased or questionable content Very difficult to organize and structure free-form UGC