A Social Content Network Proposal for World Films: three essays on the topic Fernando Manuel Pereira Governo Doctoral Thesis in the Digital Media Program Austin | Portugal Supervised by: Aurora A. C. Teixeira Ana M.O. Brochado 2018 Acknowledgements As is the case with almost every work, this one is very much indebted to many people. My deepest debt of gratitude is owed to Prof. Aurora Teixeira, a prominent thinker who has influenced me profoundly. This dissertation was largely possible due to her support, continuous supervision and constructive comments which greatly benefited the research conducted. Even a long dedication would be too short and too commonplace to honour such admiration. To my co-supervisor, Prof. Ana Brochado, for her kindness and prompt availability, thank you. I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to my colleagues, Paulo Fontes, Sandro Tavares and Daniel Rodrigues, who held me accountable and challenged me to create a work that was worthy of my effort and dedication. My recognition to the Foundation for Science and Technology (PhD Scholarship SFRH /BD / 51744 / 2011) is fully noted. Finally, to those who inspired it but will not read it. To all, my heartfelt thanks. Abstract With digital media technologies pervading our lives and accelerating the future of online films, the way film lovers experience films has undergone a major shift; what was formerly a communal activity is now increasingly individual in its reception and fragmented in its social experience. Faced with this immense momentum of media change and social revolution, there is one important feature that emerges from our research: from one hand, the ubiquitous presence of the new media applications is leading to individualized forms of film reception and social isolation; on the other hand, the network architecture of the Internet is creating new possibilities for the reintegration of the film lover. We argue that a new re-conceptualisation of the area is required. Thus, in the first essay, it is surveyed and analyzed the relationship between ‘social media’ landscape and the ‘over-the-top’ (OTT) film industry and provide a new market overview. By clearing up the boundaries and affordances of the distinct media platforms and by discussing the opportunities opened by the development of pervasive social computing, we sustain the development of a new film service that aims to merge the entertainment of online films and the mutual relationships between film lovers, emphasizing thereby the sociability between them is needed. Thus, in the second essay, it is proposed a new film- centered social network model that reaches beyond the functionality-based approaches to the development of OTT video sites and focuses on domains related to sociality. Since SCNs are innovative, yet to be considered valuable by film lovers, an evidence- based (in current IS usage models) is needed to validate which social affordances are crucial to influence their decision towards the intention to use a SCN. Thus, the third essay developed and empirically tested a comprehensive framework to examine the film lovers’ intention to participate in a SCN. ii Resumo Com as tecnologias média digitais cada vez mais impregnadas no nosso quotidiano e acelerar o futuro dos filmes online, a forma como os fãs de cinema experienciam os filmes observou uma grande mudança; o que antes era uma actividade comunitária é agora cada vez mais individual na sua recepção e mais fragmentada socialmente. Diante do impulso de mudança nos média e de revolução social, há uma característica importante que emerge da nossa investigação: de um lado, a omnipresência das novas aplicações media está a originar formas individualizadas de recepção de filmes e ao isolamento social; por outro lado, a arquitectura de rede da Internet está a criar novas possibilidades para a reintegração dos fãs de cinema/filmes. Nós argumentamos que é necessária uma nova re-concepção da área. Assim, no primeiro ensaio, é examinada e analisada a relação entre os "médias sociais" e a indústria de filmes "over-the-top" (OTT), fornecendo assim uma nova visão geral do mercado. De seguida, ao clarificar os limites e os recursos das diferentes plataformas de média, e ao discutir as novas oportunidades proporcionadas pelo desenvolvimento da computação social generalizada, é sustentado que é necessário o desenvolvimento de um novo serviço de filmes que efetue uma fusão entre o entretenimento dos filmes online e as relações entre os fãs de cinema/filmes, enfatizando dessa forma, a socialidade entre eles. No segundo ensaio, é proposto um novo modelo de rede social centrado nos filmes que ultrapassa as abordagens mais funcionais no desenvolvimento de sites OTT e que se concentra em domínios relacionados com a socialidade. Como as redes sociais de conteúdo são inovadores e ainda não legitimadas pelos fãs de filmes, é necessário um modelo de uso baseado em evidências (nos modelos de uso dos sistemas de informação) para validar quais as características da componente social que são cruciais para influenciar a decisão de intenção de uso de um SCN. Assim, no terceiro ensaio é desenvolvido um enquadramento abrangente que permite analisar e testar empiricamente a intenção dos fãs de cinema/filmes usar uma rede social de conteúdos. iii Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... i Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ ii Resumo ........................................................................................................................................ iii Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 What do we really know about the online film landscape? ....................................................... 1 Challenges and opportunities .................................................................................................... 2 Social content network systems ................................................................................................ 3 Overview of the dissertation ..................................................................................................... 4 References ................................................................................................................................. 5 ESSAY 1 ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Social multimedia computing: an emerging area of research and business for film ............ 8 Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... 8 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 9 2. OTTs, social media and film industry: setting the direction for the merging ..................... 11 2.1. Disentangling the key concepts .................................................................................... 11 2.2. The evolution of OTTs and social media platforms: the redesign of the film business model ................................................................................................................................... 12 2.3. OTT to disrupt core business models ........................................................................... 12 2.4. Opportunities and challenges opened up by social computing initiatives .................... 14 3. The current state of play for the online film business: how OTT is changing the value chain and revenues opportunities ...................................................................................................... 15 3.1. The complex issue of content rights in the OTT video landscape ............................... 16 3.2. New on-demand windows of distribution .................................................................... 17 3.3. Mix of established and new revenues gathering .......................................................... 17 3.4. More complexity in the world of OTT video Services ................................................ 19 4. Social networking and video streaming: the merging paradigm ......................................... 20 5. Over the Top video as an opportunity for world films ........................................................ 21 6. Concluding remarks ............................................................................................................ 23 6.1. Proposing a social content network for world films..................................................... 23 6.2. A two-way social content network: a forward approach for future research ............... 25 References ............................................................................................................................... 25 iv ESSAY 2 ..................................................................................................................................... 37 Merging social computing with content: A proposal of a new film platform – Avids ........ 38 Abstract ................................................................................................................................... 38 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................