JEAN BURGESS QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OF

TECHNOLOGY / @JEANBURGESS

SOCIAL MEDIA 5 YEARS ON

Blackwell Companion to New Media Dynamics (Hartley, Burgess, Bruns,

eds, 2012)

Studying Mobile Media (Hjorth, Burgess, Richardson, eds, 2012)

the platform paradigm1.architectural2.figurative3.political4.computational(Gillespie, 2012)

the politics of platforms - Tarleton Gillespie, forthcoming 2012used to interpellate multiple stakeholders with conflicting interests (‘big’ media, advertisers, audiences.ordinary or entrepreneurial YouTubers)

the platform paradigm

new media institutions

platforms are new, hybrid media institutions - coordinating function; emergent

the platform paradigm

co-creationthese platforms as institutions are co-created (users, developers, content proucers, partners, advertisers...)- not in a symmetrical way

the platform paradigm

co-evolutionco-evolution of affordances and uses; platforms and practices; cultural uptake and scholarly approachesusers are deeply involved in these processes;

the platform paradigm

hybridityin hybrid media environments

the platform paradigm

generativity

HYPEAND

COUNTER-HYPE

“User-generated content”

WEB 2.02006

tech determinism

vernacular creativity & cultural citizenship

participatory culture, co-creation, free/affective

labour, corporate enclosure

“SOCIAL MEDIA”

2011

from hype and counter-hype to

controversies

2011

stakes are highersocial media almost normalisedbut how are we being addressed now - as producers, audiences, co-creators, citizens, publics?

from creativity, community & UGC to

networks, conversation and

information -sharing

2011

•Hashtag =‘#’ + some alphanumeric characters: automatic tracking & aggregation of a topic, represented with a hyperlink

•Originally a (lead) user innovation, later integrated into platform

•Simple, adaptive and generative

•Can coordinate, render visible, and constitute publics

#royalwedding

http://mappingonlinepublics.net

_shaza3

Anna_63

realityraver

MolksTVTalktheflack

sharynlowen

tweetmayatweet

bettiwettiwoo

boycottmc

cupcakewrapper

mmilly

pottymouthmama

mattscravat

Mooba

the_helen

BZB

petstarr

willl

clembastow

nickylavigne

DHughesy

davecathcart

marcfennell

MasterChef_Aust

mellytree

Empre55

d_wolff

me55iah

paulmp

aussenatesnoop

blackvalo

MattsCravat

hostesshedonist

Troyzee

BeccyReckons

_montagu

Jimmy_Mastchef

Lauren_Mmm

injerarufus

Chrisd_Owens

getupgo

thecircle_ten

puddingface

DanMacPherson

JuliaGillard

LilBTheBasedGod

Kathblue

theage

FrillyHills

phylidelphia

mastercalbo

Le_bon_vivant_

melkettle

MissZoeLaLa

ebbob

stalepopcornau

NeilMcMahon

susiegb

gnomeangel

AmandaFuller

crk365

justinbarbour

MasterChef_PR

youeat

delamare

bronski_c

yblieb

PeterRead101

Ms_Squiggle

SeraphimSP

itsonlylisa

MasterMegs

cravatwatch

GC51

david_doh

Kat_La

SimonRamblesOn

hornery

seunjinbing

benpobjie

7pmprojectRob_Pilot

warcom

foodoAU

rage_bix

Richard_Gunner

jamie_oliver

Teeshy

JohnBirmingham

chaboos

jletti

rishi_syd

LookingGlassPho

chrissie_

bui

LILBTHEBASEDGOD

EmmaStirling

Eamon_Sullivan

melnation

kateburns76

AlmostBourdain

battledinosaur

SueYeap

cupfever

SusieQueue71

WildSugar_Skye

photographytalk

tabloidterror

blahblahellis

fnuckle

Janezwords

swoodgate

Sarkata

nivanovski

coffeetolive

melburnian

VayaPashos

DrJavaBeans

kimedian

DaithiRua

ChefCritic

LauraLanigan

ohdenny

ozreedgal

minimalgal

paul_monster

kris2040

meadea

TheRuffStuff

missrenne

GeelongDeano

SimoneHeydonNomiePT

SleeplessNights

jennerose

LindyRC

dellvink

peterjblack

louattheend

JennaIsWriting

indydreaming

mrgrumpystephen

Annieb25

RachaelLonergan

FromTheIsland

ColesOnline

veecybulski

mprimmer

chrissieswan

shelsta78

Higgo74

SarahAMurdoch

oneeyedpie

JennaPrice

scientiaiuris

FitToPrint

leighsales

my_lheage

wolfinkitchen

joejonas

lilbthebasedgod

ItsStephRice

dhughesy

jason_a_w

MichaelByrnes

themolk

mooba

stefanitza

jasonjordan

jedro74

sueGCB

miss_melbourne

lilithia

Meshel_Laurie

corinne_grant

tardisland

HieroHero

Dgen717

melissahoyer

FreeHugsTommy

Bern_Morley

macleanbrendan

OhCrap

awmitchell

gauwed

Pt4h

Zeromus

kellyhd

nicolemockler

littlewine

JonathanDaddia

athena_here

jonathandaddia

meemalee

TVdotcomAU

miafreedman

1DeadBird

ruddygood

rachwelsh

joshthomas87

Tatterededges

xPeacex

AnneMareeBryant

alliewonderessjayeff

zumbopatisserie

energygirl11

ZanderSchubert

Kendylahlah

tiffanyff

TonyAbbottMHR

chef_shaun

sunlightandsnow

GordonRamsay01

slippycaff

Rod_Rocket

adamrichard

TheDivineMrsO

simieboy

jakekapitz

callum

CaptainConway

mooney_1901

sophblack

Brett_Louise

kylieminogue

rosaliquidink

adamliaw

Shelly1912

downesy

eiin

wedbykez

Magnetoboldtoo

dr_pyser

Tzarimas

4BCbreakfast

Trissalicious

AbeFrellman

612brisbane

chooka_86

juliagillard

aaronharvie

carmR

nataschamirosch

petertaggart

philhenley

ohcrap

tf1etvous

masterchef

latikambourke

LukeDennehy

iSmile24seven

morgan2303

rolandcat

liz_baillie

declanf

mrdoman

jmeBBK

Chekigal

MasterChefAu

TM2176

sheenacampbell

luluattack

Glebe2037

hmtangxali_mwahxx

justinbieber

sarallenconsult

TheRichardEric

felixmeister

BenFordham

gojitmal

jane_ym

Limbs_

nerdfish

carolync2freed_misery

MolksPolitica

kyleandjackieo

katyperry

Callum_Hann

GreenJ

aimwolfe

katreeeena

Matt_Moran

pjhelliar

mattsun75

gowercottage

MasterChefUK

brit_battleaxe

nickya73

gailrast

Chefmumu

MattARIA

channeltenpress

likeomg

Christian0386

CatherineDeveny

#masterchefhttp://mappingonlinepublics.net

#masterchefhttp://mappingonlinepublics.net

Introduction & Contestation

In 2007, Twitter didn’t have trending topics, integrated search or hashtags

• Compelling use cases, uptake by influential lead users

• Very simple architectural integration (built-in ‘tracking’ feature)

• Uptake in external developer community (Twitter Search, hashtags.org etc)

2004

2006

2007

2011

2005: ‘YOUR ONLINE VIDEO REPOSITORY’

2005October 2005

2005December 2005

2006 Consistently in Top 10 websites visited globallyBought by GoogleMillions of videosThe most popular videos had millions of viewsNew forms of creativity, new media genres, new business models

YOUTUBE WAS UNDERDETERMINED

so youtube was underdetermined - it was an architecture that has since evolved in increasingly complex ways, and at an astounding scale

YOUTUBE WAS CO-CREATED

within the constraints of the platform provided by youtube inc, itself continuously changing and evolving, often in conflicting ways

YOUTUBE CO-EVOLVED

within the constraints of the platform provided by youtube inc, itself continuously changing and evolving, often in conflicting ways

2007

2007April 2007

2007April 2007

4000+ of the ‘most popular’ videos

what we did

42%

50%

8%

Traditional Media ContentUser-Created ContentUncertain

THE TWO YOUTUBES

Content appears to come from a (traditional) media source. This content is produced for the media industry, or by media professionals, and may be copyright violating or not.

This is content that appears to be produced outside the domain of the traditional media industry.

Uploaders

0

750

1500

2250

3000

Traditional SME/Indie OrganizationsUser Uncertain

Most Discussed Most Favorited Most Viewed Most Responded TOTALTraditional 48 80 129 77 334SME/Indie 232 174 202 253 861Organizations 18 16 19 17 70User 733 676 604 668 2681Uncertain 49 134 126 65 374Total 1080 1080 1080 1080 4320

most subscribed channels

copyright wars

YouTube in 2011

an extension of trajectories we identify in the bookthe tensions between the ‘two youtubes’ are only amplified

platform dynamics

co-evolution of media business models and community practices alongside mass popularisation and media representation

‘users’ repositioned in multiple ways

ongoing tensions: economics, ethics and governance (community norms, government legislation, corporate pressures)

enclosure vs generativity?