Making public service under social media logics

Abstract

Abstract The scale and form of social media services provided by public service companies have been under heated discussion for the last decade. In this article I approach this issue from the perspective of creative labour. How do workers perceive public service values and their applicability to social media? How are workers adapting their practices from broadcasting to narrowcasting? The article builds on José van Dijk and Thomas Poell’s idea of social media logics. This analytical prism is used to analyse a specific case study, a Finnish multiplatform serial Uusi Päivä (2010- ). The analysis shows that social media logic modifies the conditions of public service media. Reaching the users as well as producing spreadable content is a significant challenge for public service companies, as their main operating principles still mostly date back to the time of mass media logics. Yet, the workers also see great possibilities in creating new kinds of public service through social media.