#TheDay: Triggering User Generated Videos in Participatory Media Productions

Traditional media such as television are increasingly adopting interaction logic as a way to engage viewers. In this paper, we report on the design of a smartphone application that facilitates the participatory production process of #TheDay, a two-minute item in an infotainment TV show, which is broadcasted twice a week on national television. #TheDay leverages a co-creation approach as it allows viewers to submit and discuss self-produced video content, this way empowering them to share their take on topics imposed by TV producers. We report on #TheDay’s eight-month deployment. Through a mixed methods approach, we learn how the TV producers succeeded in triggering viewer interaction, also on a long-term. From our findings, we distill three considerations for the design of interactive applications that support professional producers in deploying participatory forms of media production with sustained user commitment.This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 761802. Maarten Wijnants is funded through a VLAIO Innovation Mandate (project number HBC.2016.0625), co-sponsored by Androme.Co-creation; Participatory TV; User-Generated Content (UGC); User-Generated Video (UGV); Social media; Evaluation; Engagemen