INPUT / … / … / Was it Good for you? Sleeping With the Enemy

Public service broadcasters are in a Catch-22 situation when using third-party platforms. This session looks at the upsides and downsides of ‘sleeping with the enemy’. The dilemma is obvious: If we only concentrate on our own digital platforms, how will the majority of the audience find us? On the other hand, when we publish and share our content on commercial and social platforms like Facebook and youTube, we lose control of our content, depend on their algorithms, moods and ever-changing strategies. And we end up turning our users (formerly regarded as ‘citizens’) into ‘products’ for the social platforms to sell, as well as handing over all user-insights to our biggest competitors. As Facebooks News Feed algorithm changes yet again this year, affecting our reach and influence on that platform, it’s another moment for public service media to pause and re-examine our content strategies. Should we build our own platforms and drive audiences there? Do we continue to give our content away in order to reach new and younger audiences? Can there be a happy balance between the two? Is it ethical to hand over our audiences to companies that sell their data? Should we collect more personal data? And do any of us have a strategy that is working? This session will explore the key unresolved questions that have emerged out of the ‘platform wars’ and how some public broadcasters have responded.