ABSTRACT
Social networks are the dominant media platform of the twenty-first century. The major players have market capitalisations that dwarf those of any other media business. Yet they barely produce any content – which is both the strength and the weakness of their model. They are the filter through which many other media business sectors now pass – from music to content marketing. They provide social connection at global reach, algorithm-driven advertising efficiency, stickiness of consumer relationships and, when successful, exceptional equity value creation. But social networks also generate substantial perceived societal harm. At the Development stage, a business requires three key inputs: market research, a brand and investment in concept testing. In the Production phase, the content is created by consumers themselves (and/or companies), driving huge operational efficiencies, but also major challenges in moderation of inappropriate content and misinformation (accidental) and disinformation (intentional). In the Distribution phase, algorithmic recommendation drives engagement, but creates societal challenges around provision of inappropriate content (the ‘rabbit hole’ effect/‘engage and enrage’). Monetisation is achieved through highly targeted and efficient advertising, based on intimate knowledge of user behaviour. This too creates ethical and societal issues, and granular data collection is an increasing regulatory challenge between social networks and society. AI tools are ubiquitous in social media, for content creativity, algorithmic recommendation, moderation, dataset bias mitigation, translation and Metaverse technologies.
