Why are social media platforms promoting live video so heavily?

Social media platforms are at war with one another for user attention, measured by metrics like time on platform and engagement—how much time you spend on their platform and whether you’re liking, commenting, sharing, and generally having a good time. When users spend more time on a platform, it gives that platform more ad inventory to sell, which is how they make money. Live video is an extremely effective format for keeping people engaged and on the platform longer. Because of this, platforms reward creators who produce live content with significantly more reach and visibility. It’s a ‘you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’ relationship—if you provide content that keeps people engaged on their platform, they’ll give you more free attention and reach than you’d get with other content types. This is why going live can feel like returning to the golden days when your followers would actually see all your posts.

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Asked by an artist wondering about platform priorities · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2017-02-01