The tweeting broadcaster: SBS and social media audience engagement

1. e tweeting broadcaster: SBS and social media audience engagement Tim Highfield QUT + Curtin t.highfield@qut.edu.au | timhighfield.net | @timhighfield

2. Background •  Tracking hashtags around Eurovision and the Tour de France, 2012-‐‑2014 – See: •  Highﬁeld, Harrington, & Bruns (2013). TwiGer as a technology of audiencing and fandom: The #eurovision phenomenon. Information, Communication & Society, 16(3), 315-‐‑339. •  Highﬁeld (2013). Following the yellow jersey: Tweeting the Tour de France. Twi5er and Society (eds. Weller et al.), 249-‐‑261.

3. The twist •  Rather than the event-‐‑wide hashtags, concentrating here on broadcaster-‐‑speciﬁc hashtags – SBS: •  #sbseurovision •  #sbstdf – Other broadcasters covering same events may use their own speciﬁc hashtags, in addition to the global #eurovision, #esc, #tdf, #letour…

4. Reasoning •  Using unique hashtags can enable a concentration or centralisation of the broadcaster’s audience – Separates viewers from those watching other broadcasters, provides common context and allows for additional content for broadcast – In the case of Eurovision, #sbseurovision is a channel for Australians unsullied by spoilers (since delayed telecast), unlike #eurovision

5. Questions •  To what extent might broadcaster-‐‑speciﬁc hashtags foster conversation around the shared experience of watching televised programming? •  How do such conventions, and their outcomes, impact upon the relationships between audiences and broadcasters on social media?

6. Promotion

7. Methods yourTwapperKeeper -‐‑ queries TwiGer API for speciﬁed keywords (including hashtags) -‐‑ subject to rate limiting and does not access full TwiGer stream #sbseurovision and #sbstdf archived in 2012 and 2013 (and continued in 2014)

8. Results – #sbseurovision (SF1-‐‑final): •  2012: 112,836 tweets from 20,418 users •  2013: 146,934 tweets from 18,828 users – #sbstdf (first stage to final stage): •  2012: 39,115 tweets from 3,185 users •  2013: 46,202 tweets from 5,425 users

9. Results 0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 2012-‐‑May-‐‑25 2012-‐‑May-‐‑25 2012-‐‑May-‐‑26 2012-‐‑May-‐‑26 2012-‐‑May-‐‑26 2012-‐‑May-‐‑26 2012-‐‑May-‐‑26 2012-‐‑May-‐‑26 2012-‐‑May-‐‑26 2012-‐‑May-‐‑26 2012-‐‑May-‐‑26 2012-‐‑May-‐‑26 2012-‐‑May-‐‑26 2012-‐‑May-‐‑26 2012-‐‑May-‐‑27 2012-‐‑May-‐‑27 2012-‐‑May-‐‑27 2012-‐‑May-‐‑27 2012-‐‑May-‐‑27 2012-‐‑May-‐‑27 2012-‐‑May-‐‑27 2012-‐‑May-‐‑27 2012-‐‑May-‐‑27 2012-‐‑May-‐‑27 2012-‐‑May-‐‑27 2012-‐‑May-‐‑27 2012-‐‑May-‐‑28 #sbseurovision, tweets per hour (2012) 0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 2013-‐‑May-‐‑17 2013-‐‑May-‐‑17 2013-‐‑May-‐‑18 2013-‐‑May-‐‑18 2013-‐‑May-‐‑18 2013-‐‑May-‐‑18 2013-‐‑May-‐‑18 2013-‐‑May-‐‑18 2013-‐‑May-‐‑18 2013-‐‑May-‐‑18 2013-‐‑May-‐‑18 2013-‐‑May-‐‑18 2013-‐‑May-‐‑18 2013-‐‑May-‐‑18 2013-‐‑May-‐‑19 2013-‐‑May-‐‑19 2013-‐‑May-‐‑19 2013-‐‑May-‐‑19 2013-‐‑May-‐‑19 2013-‐‑May-‐‑19 2013-‐‑May-‐‑19 2013-‐‑May-‐‑19 2013-‐‑May-‐‑19 2013-‐‑May-‐‑19 2013-‐‑May-‐‑19 2013-‐‑May-‐‑19 2013-‐‑May-‐‑20 #sbseurovision, tweets per hour (2013)

10. Results 0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 2012-‐‑May-‐‑25 2012-‐‑May-‐‑26 2012-‐‑May-‐‑27 #sbseurovision, types of tweet (2012) Sum of retweets Sum of genuine @replies Sum of original tweets 0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000 2013-‐‑May-‐‑17 2013-‐‑May-‐‑18 2013-‐‑May-‐‑19 #sbseurovision, types of tweet (2013) Sum of retweets Sum of genuine @replies Sum of original tweets

11. Results 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 #sbstdf, tweets per day (2012) 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 #sbstdf, tweets per day (2013)

12. Results 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 #sbstdf, types of tweet (2012) Sum of retweets Sum of genuine @replies Sum of original tweets 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 #sbstdf, types of tweet (2013) Sum of retweets Sum of genuine @replies Sum of original tweets

13. Results

14. SBS TwiGer strategies –  Official accounts (programme and host) active during broadcasts and visible hooks for audience •  Mentions of official accounts as signifiers for the people/shows themselves (in keeping with wider TwiGer practices) –  Promote hashtags not just for content in broadcast, but to strengthen communal feeling among audience •  #sbstdf community in particular: dedicated audience with its own tropes (including tweeting at and with presenters)

15. Eurovision vs. TDF – Some crossover among audiences: •  41,298 users contribute to the four datasets in total –  159 posted in all four, 486 in three of the four –  Among users posting in all four are SBS personalities Mike Tomalaris and Sam Pang, and SBS News – Diﬀerent styles of audience tweeting •  Interactivity, conversation?, and community (TDF) vs. isolated one-‐‑liners en masse (Eurovision) – with an aim to appear on-‐‑screen? •  Impact of diﬀerent types of event/programme on tweets?

16. SBS and the TwiGer audience •  Interactions are based both around the text and the other people involved in the discussions –  Fans respond to the conventions and tropes of the broadcasts of Eurovision and the Tour de France as well as the speciﬁc developments on screen. –  For both events, repetition of traits is an important part of the experience of these events, fostered by familiarity with the texts and encouraged by the broadcaster •  Inspire increased dedication, centralisation, and text-‐‑ speciﬁc fandom.

17. Beyond TwiGer –  SBS’s trans-‐‑/social media strategies •  Online experience of broadcasts through Tour Social Hub •  Apps •  Podcasts, games, radio, blogs/op eds •  In-‐‑broadcast social media extends beyond TwiGer to Instagram and Facebook (as promoted in 2014 Eurovision broadcast) •  Not strictly broadcasting (one-‐‑to-‐‑many) but more reﬂexive? –  TwiGer is a particularly visible medium, well-‐‑ established as a backchannel and comparatively straightforward to collect data •  However, it is not the only medium, and is not used in isolation •  Part of an extended experience around these events