Alvin Toffler (1980) is credited with introducing the term prosumer to describe the pattern of media use that he accurately predicted would dominate in the digital age. The term combines producer and consumer, and a prosumer is described as one who both produces and consumes, sometimes simultaneously. Wikipedia, the open source encyclopedia, is an example of the construction of knowledge and media by prosumers that typifies the social construction of knowledge in the digital world; a single user on Wikipedia may be creating original content, consuming others’ content, and improving others’ content.
Reference
Toffler, Alvin. 1980. The Third Wave. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc.