Who Really Wins?
User generated content has flourished on social media platforms in recent years, and brands have found a way to use it. Through branded competitions, they can create free advertising on social media.
Before delving in, let’s put user generated content into context and take a look at platform capitalism. This is a similar concept to the privatisation of land, but on digital platforms, where everything you contribute works as free labour to keep their platform running, and they get to capitalise on your data and generated content. Here, data becomes a commodity. The more data they gather, the more powerful they get. A great example of this is Facebook, the conglomerate who now owns Instagram, too.
Facebook’s platforms create spaces that connect people, which can be good or bad. A digital optimist, such as Andrew White, naively sees the digital economy as an opportunity to open up new markets and growth, through the democratisation of platform media by its accessibility. However, this liberal ideology does not account for user data as a commodity. This ultimately contributes to the power of the platform being used, rather than the creator of content on such platform. It also fails to recognise that even in the ability to share creative ideas and democratic values, it uses these platforms where your work can become free labour.
Understanding platform capitalism helps to demonstrate just how important user generated content is to the digital economy, and to these platforms’ success. An example of user-generated content used for brand advertising could be the band, Bright Eyes’, instagram challenge. This was one of the few examples I’ve seen and really enjoyed, considering its investment in creativity (and that I’m a fan of the band).
The band posted sheet music for the bagpipes in one of their newly released songs and prompted their instagram followers to ‘dust off any ol’ instrument’ to ‘give the solo a whirl’. Bright Eyes started this challenge during the first lockdown as an activity to entertain everyone stuck at home, with the benefit of promoting their new single. I like to imagine retired musicians dusting off their instruments and playing this bagpipe solo for a bit of fun. Here’s a link to one of their entries.
The real question here, is who actually wins? The user who best covered the band’s bagpipe solo? The band, by getting free advertising? The dedicated listeners of the band? Or is it Instagram, for being the platform where all the magic happens.
Unfortunately, I think that Instagram would win this challenge, along with most other challenges, if they were being considered.
The brand (or in this case, band) definitely benefitted from the scheme. They started this challenge to pick up an old instrument when people were most likely to pick up an old instrument (lockdown). The content also happened to relate to their newest song (which I’ll forever have in my head). Finally, they helped build a community behind them. When times were tough, they provided some light. It’s not everyday that you get challenged to perform a bagpipe solo on your instrument of choice! It does prove to have been effective free advertising, despite numbers of participants only being around 100 (compared to some other challenges which entice thousands). They didn’t get the masses, but they got who mattered. So, their success depends on what you value most.
On the other hand, the creators of the user generated content got an amazing opportunity to be heard by established musicians. Dead Oceans, Bright Eyes record label, even shared a few entries. This prospect was definitely exciting for any aspiring musician, though it might not have taken them further than recognition. They did however put their time and efforts into seeking that recognition, or just to have a laugh. Maybe they got to show off an instrument they played to their friends!
Finally, we have the consumers, or listeners. In this example, it becomes slightly more blurry as the competition didn’t seem to reach beyond people who already listened, thus slightly merging the two. I can say, however, that I am a listener, and I did not take part in creating user generated content for this challenge. Instead how did I benefit? Mainly from being made aware that I had new music to listen to, and from being entertained.
What I think is most important in this example is the illusion that platforms work in favour of creative connectedness and sharing, promoting an ideological form of liberalism where more varied markets open up, rather than being run by monopolies. In reality, where these markets would be most likely to take place is within platform capitalism. So, who benefits most from user-generated content? Maybe the content producer, maybe the brand, definitely the platform.