Billions of people are using chat apps. Can brand owners and broadcasters make themselves part of these private conversations? And should they?

The BBC World Service, the Weather Company USA and youth-led creative network Livity have been exploring ways to engage with these hard-to-reach audiences.

This podcast explores how organisations are using short animated images such as gifs as well as chatbots - computer programmes which simulate conversations with humans - to become part of the conversation in private spaces.

Communications on these text, email or instant messaging apps is referred to as 'dark social' because, unlike a Facebook share or a retweet, it’s harder for brands and broadcasters to see what’s going on ‘in the dark’.

In this podcast you'll learn:

• how big-name brands are using ‘dark social’ to promote themselves • what the Weather Channel learnt from audience interactions with its chatbot • about the insight the BBC World Service gained from its first attempt to deliver original journalism via a chat app

This podcast is presented by Charles Miller, editor of the BBC Academy blog. He's joined by BBC World Service assistant editor Vladimir Hernandez, series-producer of Young, Angry and Connected, a story of political activism in Africa and the BBC's first WhatsApp journalism project.

Also on the panel are Alan Bryant, a planner and strategist at Livity, which helps organisations reach young people, and Domenic Venuto, general manager of consumer products at the Weather Company in the US.

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