Social media may be future of entertainment: Should it be regulated?

Social media entertainment is certainly part of the gig economy. It's inherently unstable, with huge growth over a ten year period

Until 2010, the pathway to success in the screen industry depended on convincing broadcasters and film producers to give to you airtime or production resources. These days, all you need is an internet connection and a laptop or smartphone.

A new creative industry has been born in the last decade called “ Social Media Entertainment ”. It’s peopled by young entertainers and activists who you may never have heard of: Hank Green, Casey Neistadt, PewDiePie and Tyler Oakley.

These creators started out as amateurs, but have evolved into media professionals who make money from the content they publish on social media platforms. They are incubating their own media brands, building global fan communities, and enhancing Australia’s profile among young people around the world.

The Australian government is currently conducting separate inquiries into the future of film and television content in this country, and the market effects of digital platforms. Any decisions we make in these domains could affect social media entertainment, so it’s critically important we understand the industry lest we inadvertently strangle it as it’s just getting started.

The Australian market is growing

Social media entertainment emerged soon after Google acquired YouTube in 2006 – around the same time as the launch of Twitter, and their counterparts in China, Youku and Weibo.

It can be a lucrative profession. More than three million YouTube creators globally make money from the content they upload. Then there’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Twitch, among others. The larger the audiences, the more money to be made. In 2016, content creators earned more than US$5.9 billion across nine digital and social media platforms in the United States alone.

ALSO READ: How borderless nature of internet makes social media regulation complicated

The majority of the highest paid creators are based in the US, but popular Australian creators include the Van Vuuren brothers, Wengie, and the SketchShe group. Estimates suggest the number of content creators in Australia has more than doubled in the last 15 years. That increase is almost entirely driven by an extra 230,000 creators of online video content entering the industry. (more)

Ways to use 4G data while paying 3G rates

Ways to use 4G data while paying 3G rates

With mobile companies offering faster 4G data service at 3G rates, many customers are shifting to the newer technology. After all, who does not want more speed at the same price? But here’s a catch — faster speed means quicker usage of data packs.

However, just because 4G consumes more data, one does not have to stick with 3G to save on data consumption. Checking emails, sending and receiving messages over WhatsApp, checking Facebook and Twitter doesn’t eat much of your data. Usually, streaming media services like videos and games dries up a large chunk of data.

If you can change settings of your apps and proactively manage their data consumption, you can reduce your 4G bill. For example, if you go to YouTube app’s settings, you can choose to stream HD videos only when the phone is connected to Wi-Fi. Similarly, in video conference apps such as Skype, you can opt for lower quality video.Read more.

New software can recognise unseen events in YouTube videos

New software can recognise unseen events in YouTube videos

Scientists have developed a computer software that can recognise events in YouTubevideos, even those that it has not previously seen.

The new approach uses both scene and object features from the video and enables associations between these visual elements and each type of event to be automatically determined and weighted by a machine-learning architecture known as a neural network.

The approach not only works better than other methods in recognising events in videos, but is significantly better at identifying events that that the computer programme has never or rarely encountered previously, said Leonid Sigal, senior research scientist at Disney Research.

These events can include such things as riding a horse, baking cookies or eating at a restaurant.

"Automated techniques are essential for indexing, searching and analysing the incredible amount of video being created and uploaded daily to the Internet," said Jessica Hodgins, vice president at Disney Research.

"With multiple hours of video being uploaded to YouTube every second, there's no way to describe all of that content manually," Hodgins said. Read more.