Blog: Social media

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the digital entertainment world. Check out the latest from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage - games, video, music, audio, social, or critical developments.

Why social is a double-edged sword for streaming TV

Cover image for Why social is a double-edged sword for streaming TV

Ben Woods

7 Mar 2025

Business Strategy

TV shows, movies, and social creator content are lane hopping in search of engagement. It is common practice now for SVOD services to distribute one or several episodes for free on YouTube and TikTok in...

min read

YouTube is winning emerging markets by being social – and format-flexible

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Hanna Kahlert

5 Mar 2025

Audience Insight

Cultural trends

In English-speaking markets (and much of Europe), entertainment consumption is split across a large number of digital platforms, segmented largely by content format, rights access, and legacy uptake. It...

min read

How to build a strong fanbase using identity resonance

Cover image for How to build a strong fanbase using identity resonance

Olivia Jones

27 Feb 2025

As entertainment consumption fragments, superstars dominate less, with fans gravitating towards ever-multiplying niches. This trend, alongside the maturation of streaming subscription growth, is driving...

min read

Social came for music streaming’s lunch – now is the time for streaming to bite back

Cover image for Social came for music streaming’s lunch – now is the time for streaming to bite back

Tatiana Cirisano

27 Feb 2025

Audience Insight

In the battle of music streaming versus social, the major (at least Western) music streaming services have never fully committed to implementing social features. Spotify has come the closest: an early...

min read

Craft versus character: the equation the music industry needs to fix

Cover image for Craft versus character: the equation the music industry needs to fix

Mark Mulligan

18 Feb 2025

I recently wrote about the unflattening of music :how creativity, craft, and fandom can – if done right – counter the growing commodification of music. Not surprisingly, I focused on the music side...

min read

How PlayStation broke its hardware and active user records in Q4

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Rhys Elliott

13 Feb 2025

Business Strategy

Sony released its financial results for calendar Q4 2024. Here are the high-level results: Sony generated revenues of $27.9 billion As always, its Game & Network Services (G&NS) Segment – PlayStation...

min read

DeepSeek and Rednote signal the dawning era of APAC

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Hanna Kahlert

29 Jan 2025

Business Strategy

The AI race is a tense one. Billions of dollars have been poured into the likes of OpenAI. Meanwhile, the US and UK governments, among others, have pledged to invest heavily in AI development, suggesting...

min read

Meta pushes for “free speech” as TikTok falls short: a dramatic cultural shift for social

Cover image for Meta pushes for “free speech” as TikTok falls short: a dramatic cultural shift for social

Hanna Kahlert

15 Jan 2025

Business Strategy

The news cycle leaves no room to draw breath as strategic pivots and Supreme Court hearings come thick and fast. Changes are afoot – and they paint a very different picture of the digital landscape of...

min read

A regulation-heavy year for social looms in 2025

Cover image for A regulation-heavy year for social looms in 2025

Hanna Kahlert

17 Dec 2024

Product Strategy

The UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, has published guidelines around the Online Safety Act, warning that most social platforms are not adequately meeting standards. Sites that fail to comply can...

min read

Will the TikTok ban happen? What you need to know

Cover image for Will the TikTok ban happen? What you need to know

Hanna Kahlert

10 Dec 2024

It has been a rollercoaster of a news year for TikTok since April, when President Biden signed a law that would ban the platform unless it found new owners. The January 19th deadline is approaching quickly,...

min read

Why social media regulation could be a boost for the creator economy

Cover image for Why social media regulation could be a boost for the creator economy

Hanna Kahlert

26 Nov 2024

TikTok’s future hangs in the balance, with its January deadline to find a new owner fast approaching beneath the oversight of a new, and unpredictable, US administration. President Trump originally tried...

min read

The BlueSky migration: How cultural shifts can disrupt even the most established social media platforms

Cover image for The BlueSky migration: How cultural shifts can disrupt even the most established social media platforms

Hanna Kahlert

19 Nov 2024

Twitter clones have proliferated since Elon Musk first bought and renamed the platform to X in 2022. Despite a lot of buzz around platforms like Mastodon and BlueSky, none have seemed to capture a significant...

min read

Info-tainment, Kamala’s campaign failure, and the distortive role of social media marketing

Cover image for Info-tainment, Kamala’s campaign failure, and the distortive role of social media marketing

Hanna Kahlert

12 Nov 2024

Marketing Strategy

trump presidency

The recent US election has capped off one of the biggest global election years in recent history, and the world around us is changing rapidly. Digital life, and specifically social media platforms, play...

min read

Social platforms are eating passive entertainment. Are games eating social?

Cover image for Social platforms are eating passive entertainment. Are games eating social?

Hanna Kahlert

22 Oct 2024

At Sony Music’s Interactive Tech Day in London on 22nd October, gaming was, ironically, the highlight. From artist takeovers of Roblox destinations to concert-type experiences in Fortnite Islands, the...

min read

AI, dead internet theory, and why analogue is a future-proof business strategy

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Hanna Kahlert

8 Oct 2024

analogue revival

The internet is abuzz over Google NotebookLM’s eerily realistic-sounding podcasts. Last week, MIDiA wrote about how it will disrupt primarily information-driven podcasting, rather than entertainment...

min read

TikTok’s creator subscriptions point to the future of social platforms

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Hanna Kahlert

1 Oct 2024

It’s been a big week for TikTok. On the heels of shutting down its music streaming service , the platform has announced an expansion of its creator subscription program. In addition to existing LIVE...

min read

Welcome to the post-feature world

Cover image for Welcome to the post-feature world

Tatiana Cirisano

26 Sep 2024

artist services

music distribution

During the first two decades of the 21st century, companies in most industries competed on features and user interface. Snapchat was once the only social app with Stories, and the iPhone used to sit alongside...

min read

Will more artists release full songs to social media in 2025?

Cover image for Will more artists release full songs to social media in 2025?

Tatiana Cirisano

19 Sep 2024

Music streaming

It is now a standard part of most music rollouts to release a clip of the song on social video platforms before it hits streaming. This makes sense when you think of social media as a marketing tool. But...

min read

‘Brat’ summer and the dilemmas of going mainstream

Cover image for ‘Brat’ summer and the dilemmas of going mainstream

Tatiana Cirisano

29 Aug 2024

music marketing

It has become a rule of thumb that the moment corporate America begins capitalising on a trend, that trend begins to die. Cultural fragmentation has helped niches and scenes flourish, but it has also left...

min read

Who wins the social spiral? Consumers’ relationship with social platforms is changing

Cover image for Who wins the social spiral? Consumers’ relationship with social platforms is changing

Hanna Kahlert

28 Aug 2024

There is no shortage of takes on the role of social platforms in our daily lives, from former influencers lamenting the end of Twitter’s golden era to researchers studying social media’s impact on...

min read

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