This document discusses how social media and digital distribution have contributed to the "long tail" effect in media. It defines the long tail as the large number of less popular titles that collectively make up a significant portion of total sales. It argues that three forces - production democratization, distribution democratization, and better connecting supply and demand - have lengthened and fattened the long tail by giving niche content a potential audience and enabling widespread distribution beyond just top hits. Social media plays a role in all three forces by lowering production and distribution costs and better connecting fans and creators.

1. Social media
& the long
tail
Denis Gillet & Adrian Holzer
The copyright of images belong to their authors. I will remove them on demand. Contact me at adrian.holzer@epfl.ch

3. Hits Rule

4. Our culture is a constant
popularity contest

5. But hits start
to rule less

6. Number of hit albums

7. All time top 100 albums
22 are from 20 are from
the 1980s the 1990s
7 are from
the 2000s
[wiki]

8. Why

9. Piracy ? Free
music ?
“there’s
something
to that.”

10. P2P technology provided
users with more choice

11. MP3 players
allowed more
selection and
variety

12. “What if instead
of a single top 40
there are now 400
top 40s or 40’000
or 400’000.”
Chris Anderson

13. Niches & the
long tail

14. Ecast online jukebox
What percentage
of the 10’000
albums available
sold at least one
track per quarter?
Typically for WalMart the answer is < 50%

15. 98%
The 98% rule seems universal in digital
distribution

16. The long tail is the large number of occurrences far
from the "head" or central part of a
distribution of popularities.
Number of sales
[wiki]
still not zero
Titles ranked by popularity

17. The problem with
brick & mortar
retailers

18. Shelf space is expensive
Theaters must sell
1500 tickets over
2 weeks
Retailers must sell
4 copies of an album
per year

19. Number of sales
Tyranny of locality
Titles not carried by local
retailers
Titles ranked by popularity

20. Markets
without end

21. vs
Total Sales
5000
3750
45 %
55 %
2500
1250
Products not
available at WalMart
0
W
Inventory Size
(thousands)

22. vs
Total Sales
90
25 %
67.5
N
45
75 %
Products not available
at Blockbuster
22.5
0
B
Inventory Size
(thousands)

23. vs
Total Sales
5000
30 %
3750
a
2500
70 %
1250
B&N
Products not
available at B&N
0
Inventory Size
(thousands)

24. The first step
towards the
long tail

25. 1886
!
Richard Sears,
a railway agent
started a watch
distribution
company

26. Using the rail and mail as distribution channel

27. and the wish
book as
aggregator

28. Three forces
that lead to
the long tail

29. Production democratization
leads to
more stuff...

30. ...and lengthens the tail

31. Distribution democratization
leads to more
access to
niches...

32. ...and fattens the tail

33. Connect supply & demand

34. ... drives business from
hits to niches

35. The three forces
Production
democratization
Distribution
democratization
Connect supply
& demand

36. Three steps to
infinite variety

37. 1.Physical
Profit thresholds
2.Hybrid
3.Digital

38. Using social
media to reach
the long tail

39. Social media as
production tools

40. Social media as
distribution aggregator

41. storage
distribution
shelf space
billing
COST
0/year
$10
0% fee
3

42. Social media as
connection tools

43. Number of followers

44. Number of friends

45. The copyrights of images belong to their authors. I will remove them on demand. Contact me at adrian.holzer@epfl.ch