Mark Pack

In short: ITV and Susan Boyle.

The massive popularity of her clips on YouTube and elsewhere shows just how powerful social media can be at amplifying a story – and also how the ability to catch up on an event after it happens helps recreate those ‘water cooler’ moments which used to rely on lots of people seeing at event at the same time.

The makers of the TV show knew exactly what they were doing when it came to editing together the broadcast. Remember the two cut-aways to people in the audience looking horrified just before she started to sing? Or the previous gratuitous clip of Susan Boyle eating some food? Those doing the editing knew just how to play to expectations and emotions, before the dramatic moment when she started singing.

But, but, but … there was one thing ITV failed to get right. It didn’t take a social media genius to expect that clips would be all over YouTube and yet despite the growth in advertising on YouTube, no-one had sorted out how to exploit the opportunities. And so whilst YouTube and ITV officials were locked in fruitless negotiations, the rest of us got on with watching Susan Boyle in the tens of millions, advert free, as they squandered the opportunity to make money out of it.