Let’s start simple. Who are you, and what do you do with social data that others might not expect?
I lead the Social Analytics team within Disney Entertainment’s Research, Insights, and Analytics org. My team uses social data to monitor the conversation around our brands, TV shows, and talent, identify the storylines and characters that resonate with viewers, optimize social content performance, and inform various marketing, programming, and development decisions.
One use case for social data that’s fairly unique to linear television because of its real-time nature is the ability to map the minute-by-minute social conversation against the live TV content it references. This approach allows us to pinpoint the precise moments, characters, and storylines that drive spikes in social activity and reactions from viewers.
What’s something in our industry we pretend to understand, but don’t?
As social insights analysts, it’s our job to try to explain why a certain trend or meme or piece of content has gone viral by analyzing the factors we can see or control (value, relevance, novelty, emotion), but the truth is that there are so many unpredictable factors (cultural timing, network effects, social currency, algorithmic shifts, sheer luck) that there’s often no clear or replicable formula.
What’s one belief about your audience that social data completely upended for your teams?
Working in television, our primary audience has traditionally been TV and streaming viewers. But it’s fascinating to observe how social media has become host to a secondary universe and a complimentary experience for our audience. Social-first communities develop around shows; users share fan edits and fan fiction, and fans interact directly with talent. There is now a whole ecosystem that technically exists independently from the TV program at the center of it, but the two are also deeply intertwined: The TV universe influences the social media fandom, and the social data we collect can then influence the direction of the show.
If you could build your dream social intelligence team from scratch, with no legacy and no limits, what roles would you include?
I was actually fortunate enough to have the opportunity to build my social intelligence team just a couple years ago. One of the best decisions I made was to separate Social Listening (i.e.: analyzing earned or user-generated social conversation) and Social Measurement (i.e.: assessing owned or competitive social content performance) into two distinct functions within the broader Social Analytics team, rather than rounding out the team with generalists with varying experiences in both areas.
This structure has allowed my team members to really hone their specific subject matter expertise, given them the opportunity to master their respective technology platforms, and empowered them to manage the relationships with our internal partners and their core technology vendors. At the same time, the structure has also created a clear division of labor for tackling projects and given stakeholders clarity on who to contact for various types of projects, strategic questions, and follow-up support.
When do you feel like you’re doing your best work?
Usually in the middle of the night.
But also, there’s often an aha moment in the middle of a project when everything clicks; and the patterns become clear, and I know what I need to do to accomplish my goals. I love the exploration and investigation it takes to reach that point, but my best work comes after that breakthrough.
What’s your browser history giving away about you this week?
My browser history includes a lot of entertainment news, television episode guides, IMDB pages, and social media this week. I’m sure some of that was work-related ... Apparently, I also asked Google multiple questions about how long things last in the fridge.
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