How the transformation of social media platforms and user-experience
have redefined the entertainment industry
In a little over a decade, competing social media platforms, including
YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, have given rise to
a new creative industry: social media entertainment. Operating at the
intersection of the entertainment and interactivity, communication and
content industries, social media entertainment creators have harnessed
these platforms to generate new kinds of content separate from the
century-long model of intellectual property control in the traditional
entertainment industry.
Social media entertainment has expanded rapidly and the traditional
entertainment industry has been forced to cede significant power and
influence to content creators, their fans, and subscribers. Digital
platforms have created a natural market for embedded advertising,
changing the worlds of marketing and communication in their wake.
Combined, these factors have produced new, radically shifting demands on
the entertainment industry, posing new challenges for screen regimes,
media scholars, industry professionals, content creators, and audiences
alike.
Stuart Cunningham and David Craig chronicle the rise of social media
entertainment and its impact on media consumption and production. A
massive, industry-defining study with insight from over 100 industry
insiders, Social Media Entertainment explores the latest
transformations in the entertainment industry in this time of digital
disruption.
