What social media platforms can learn from audience measurement: Lessons in the self-regulation of “black boxes”

Abstract

The widespread concerns about the misuses and negative effects of social media platforms have prompted a range of governance responses, including preliminary efforts toward self-regulatory models. Building upon these initiatives, this paper looks to the self-regulation of the audience measurement industry as a possible template for the self-regulation of social media. This article explores the parallels between audience measurement systems and social media platforms; reviews the self-regulatory apparatus in place for the audience measurement industry; and, considers the lessons that the self-regulation of audience measurement might offer to the design and implementation of self-regulatory approaches to social media.