How digital platforms are reinventing entertainment

Paolo Kernahan

"NO ONE'S ever going to be interested in anything you have to say!" The words of a teacher upbraiding me for holding court with my antics in a high school classroom; a class for which she was late.

Fast forward to today, the social media epoch. If I could see her again, I'd probably say, "You'd be amazed at what interests people."

Platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook are constantly upending the way we perceive, create and consume entertainment. They provide opportunities for artists, musicians, comedians, writers and film-makers who would otherwise be locked out by hierarchies of the conventional entertainment citadels.

What's fascinating about digital media is the way it accurately mirrors our tastes and contemporary consumption patterns. There's a YouTube channel called Comics Explained with a subscriber base of over two million followers. It's run by the mononymous creator "Rob" who describes himself as a 25-year veteran of comic book fandom.

Rob produces videos exploring the intricacies of comic book lore, storylines, histories of characters, writers, illustrators – the whole nine. His videos range in length from 60 seconds to two hours reflecting the diverse viewing habits of today's audiences.

Additionally, he openly asks followers which topics they would like covered in forthcoming posts. This is a brilliant strategy as it simulates audience participation in the creative process – making them invested in curating what they see on the channel.

Had Rob of Comics Explained told a high school teacher of his aspiration to become a comic book expert, he would have been heartily ridiculed.

If comics aren't your thing there's Johnny Harris with a solid following just shy of five million. His area of interest is documentaries, exploring politics, economics, social issues, and a host of other subjects.

Between Johnny Harris and "Rob" on YouTube, there's everything else – a smorgasbord of content reflecting the varied interests and curiosities of the platform's users.

The ubiquity of content creation and the ease with which some are becoming their own media machines muddles the memory of a darker, primitive past. Back in 2010, I was creating nature and travel programmes for terrestrial television. It was a costly business, compounded by the peculiarity of having to pay extortionate rates to get the shows on television.

At that time YouTube was in its infancy at just five years old. While monetisation was possible through the partner programme, the then ad revenue model wouldn't even have covered the costs of a single production day.

Today, many documentary film-makers are going directly to YouTube, bypassing traditional media. In some cases, they're using the platform and its broad reach to gain exposure for lucrative commercial opportunities. Looking back on my documentary film-making career, if YouTube was then what it is now I too would have taken my content directly to the platform.

There are countless ways creators can generate income on YouTube. Ad revenue, fan funding, brand deals, corporate partnerships – in addition, creators can develop their own products and market them to loyal subjects.

It's by no means an easy path to travel. Some of the most successful names in the digital realm have been at it for ten years or more, only seeing success in the latter leg of their journey. Creating content sustainably online in a way that pays the bills is often a pursuit of attrition. Burnout among content creators is a common phenomenon. Still, the growth of people-led entertainment is just beginning.

Digital media has long been credited with the disordering of traditional media – eroding advertising revenue and competing for the attention of audiences. The same is true of even the evolutionary strains of legacy entertainment. Streaming services, for example, are facing stiff competition from the one-two combination punch of omnipresence and diversity found in content on social media platforms.

When was the last time you sat down to look for something to watch on Netflix only to end up scrolling on your phone for four hours while your popcorn quietly goes stale?

Creators have also had extraordinary success in other areas, such as podcasts and blogging. Digital platforms have forced changes in consumption patterns. In turn, though, users bend the platforms to their will by voting with their thumbs.

Digital media have democratised entertainment in ways perhaps never imagined. Naturally, there are downsides – the proliferation of hate speech, fake news, etc – but achieving growth through change is all about managing both the good and the bad. The rise of citizen media, though, is inexorable; that's the good bit.