UP322 Vice, Buzzfeed and the TikTok-ifaction of Everything

Likes, Followers, Shares, Video Views: these are the currency of digital publishing. But as Matt Locke argues in today's conversation, change is coming.The importance of the Like as a metric of audience engagement is quickly diminishing. As the dominant social platforms are converging to become video-led TikTok clones, engagement metrics have shifted from clicks to viewing. From TikTok to Netflix, the most important numbers now are not the big ones, but the long ones - it's all about how long something keeps your attention, not if it inspires you to click a button.What does this mean for many of the biggest sports teams, athletes, leagues and governing bodies, which have sought to redefine themselves as entertainment companies. Social media follower numbers have become the basis of a football club's valuation, separating the so-called Super League clubs from the rest.And what are the lessons from the recent demise of Vice and BuzzFeed, two of the most influential digital entertainment businesses of the last decade or more? Matt Locke co-founded the strategy and content company Storythings in 2011 and is executive producer on projects for clients including BBC, PBS, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Wellcome Trust. Before that Matt was Head of Innovation at BBC and Head of Multiplatform at Channel 4. Here are some details on his work on the history of attention metrics, How To Measure Ghosts and the Storythings newsletter, Attention Matters, referenced in the podcast.Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and TikTok at @UnofficialPartnerWe publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday. These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport. Our entire back catalogue of 500 sports business conversations are available free of charge here. Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner’ on Apple, Spotify and every podcast app. If you’re interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series and live events, you can reach us via the website.