Youth social media bans spread; NBC News touts stability; AI-linked layoffs fuel backlash.
Clipping has a whole new meaning in PR.
No longer does it mean meticulously cutting out the news articles you’ve earned for your clients and pasting them onto a sheet. Social media clipping is the practice of cutting longer videos into their most interesting, remarkable moments and sharing them from unbranded accounts, often without disclosing that they’ve been paid to do so.
For instance, clipping played a major role in the ultimately unsuccessful LA mayoral campaign of Spencer Pratt. Businesses are also using clippers to get more mileage out of longer-form content — for instance, cutting clips of behind-the-scenes footage of commercial shoots with celebs, marketing events or documentaries. It’s yet another way to feed the insatiable appetite of the social machine for more and more content.
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Compensation models vary, but in one recent campaign for “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4,” clippers who shared different versions of the game’s trailer were paid $1.50 per 1,000 views on TikTok and YouTube and $1 per 1,000 views on Instagram.
However, there are real issues with clipping as a practice, usually centered around a lack of legally required disclosures about when users are being compensated for sharing clips. In one prominent example, clips made on behalf of MrBeast did not feature proper disclosures and thus could not be shared on algorithmically driven For You pages. Some clippers also fall afoul of platform rules prohibiting the reposting of content without transforming it in some way, causing it to become de-prioritized.
Still, the practice seems to be gaining steam — and becoming an important part of the social media toolkit.
Why it matters: Cutting down longer-form content has long been a great way to fuel social media efforts. This is just a new spin on what’s long been a best practice.
Where it gets murky is when clipping falls into a “clip farming” practice that just spams content across social without a real strategy or true disclosure. Getting views for views’ sake is about vanity, not truly raising the bottom line of your organization.
But with an eye on the goal you’re trying to pursue and both required and ethically advisable disclosures, clipping is a great strategy. Why not take that long, splashy awards event and turn it into dozens of punchy social media clips, showing just the best parts?
You don’t need an agency to do this, and you don’t have to distribute it with an army of anonymous users. Look at the content you’ve already got and look at how you can repackage and recirculate it.
Editor’s Top Reads:
- Great Britain is joining a host of other countries seeking to ban social media for children under 16 years of age. The UK’s rules would be even more stringent than those already enacted in Australia: not only would it ban the typical social media channels, it would also prohibit livestreaming or chatting with strangers, such as in a game. Romantic or sexual AI chatbots would also be included, and the nation is also exploring “overnight curfews and breaks in infinite scrolling” for all those under 18, the New York Times reported. The British announcement closely follows a similar measure introduced in Canada, which means a significant portion of the Anglophone world will now prohibit children under 16 from accessing social media. While a similar ban may be difficult to enact in the U.S. for various reasons, this is a trend worth watching. There is a decided backlash against social media use by youths. But with the decline of children’s television programs, it may become more difficult to get messages to these audiences. It’s time to get creative and explore ways to responsibly message in ways that extend beyond the internet.
- Cesar Conde, head of the NBCUniversal Newsgroup, sat down for an interview with the New York Times to explore how his newsroom is working, even as things get dire over at CBS News. When asked directly about Bari Weiss’ troubles, Conde explained his own leadership style: “My approach has always been one of servant leadership. My role is to bring together teams who are smarter than me in different capacities and ensure that I support them. It’s a very methodical approach to ensure that we have the very best and let them shine.” He also said he wins over a newsroom by ensuring they know he always has their back and that they’ll continue to invest in quality journalism. Having this conversation now, at a time when the competition is floundering, is a smart PR move. Conde doesn’t take pot shots, but he clearly positions his own operation as calm and in control amid chaos.
- Profits are reaching new highs on Wall Street. At the same time, companies, especially tech companies, are laying off scads of workers with the same excuse: AI is improving productivity, and they no longer need the manpower. TechCrunch points out that companies, including Block, Atlassian and Cloudflare, have seen their stocks surge when they blame AI for cuts to their labor force. However, this could be fueling the broader societal backlash against AI, as more and more people feel they are being cut out of the middle class and find themselves unable to afford the basics. TechCrunch compared the moment to the financial crisis of 2008, which ended in bailouts for banks and foreclosures for regular Joes. The Occupy Wall Street movement followed, causing widespread disruption. No one company is responsible for the public perception of AI. But pointing to AI as the reason for job cuts may not be a silver bullet for much longer.
Allison Carter is editorial director of PR Daily and Ragan.com. Follow her on LinkedIn.
The post The Scoop: The rise of ‘clipping’ on social media appeared first on PR Daily.
