Saturday, August 22, 2015

#TV

I secretly have always wanted to start a blog, so (secretly) I am excited that this is giving me an excuse to do just that. Social media has been fascinating to me recently. It’s a fast paced industry and each day is different from the one before. There is always a new viral video, campaign controversy, or odd celebrity Instagram. Social media keeps me on my toes.

A trend that has caught my attention recently is how TV shows utilize social media to engage their audience. Nearly every TV show from Scandal to Bones to the Voice uses some method to engage users in second screen activity. Hence the name of my blog. I know that I am not alone in saying that whenever I turn on the TV, 90% of the time I am also on my phone, computer, or iPad. It is obvious that TV show producers have caught onto this commonality. It has become a fad entitled “Social TV” or “Second Screen Activity”. Once I came to terms with my second screen behavior, I started noticing just how TV shows were drawing me into a conversation with them. The ever so brilliant Shonda Rhimes has #TGIT for her three shows on Thursdsays. The cast of Nashville hosts a "live tweet" session during the episode. TLC encourages viewers to hashtag #myTLClife in response to various prompts. The Bachelor in Paradise has an aftershow solely about the social media comments that ensued throughout the show. It seems that every TV show now has a means to draw viewers into a conversation with each other. The world of Social TV makes us incredibly more connected to one another.

My goal with starting this blog is to chronicle how TV shows encourage this type of second screen, social TV behavior with their audience. I want to encourage my readers to engage in the conversation that TV producers are attempting to draw them into. Decide for yourself whether you think it is a positive or negative trend. I want to educate fellow tech-savy millennials on how this trend of second screen behavior is changing the way that TV producers market their shows. Lastly, I want to dig into the analytics and understand whether the endless hashtags, instagrams, and twitter takeovers truly have an effect on viewers. I am excited for all of you to join me as I embark on this complicated web of social TV.




6 comments:

  1. I am guilty of searching hashtags I see on the screen while watching a show! I love to look and see what others have to say about a performance on Americas Got Talent or the heated drama while watching Bachelor In Paradise. It's almost addicting and that scares me a bit. I can't wait to follow your blog and see what you find out about the second screen and how it impacts us as viewers.

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  2. Love this topic, because it is so relatable. I definitely enjoy looking at my twitter feed more than the TV screen when watching the Bachelor. I enjoy people's witty comments! It is so interesting to me how fast networks found a way to capitalize on this trend, instead of ignoring it. If I was a TV producer, I probably would be upset my show isn't capturing the full attention of my audience. These networks realized that wasn't realistic and adapted - so cool to see.

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  3. This is such a good point. I didn't realize how much I do this until now! It's also crazy because now if you miss watching an episode live then you're also missing out on interacting with everyone! Because of this I think it has caused people to watch more TV shows live, rather than DVR them. Interacting with other viewers definitely adds to the overall experience of the show!

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  4. This is definitely a really good point and I never really realized how much I engaged in this second screen activity until now. I watch Scandal and Nashville, who both live tweet, and while I don't use Twitter much anymore I still like to see what they say about the show. It feels like a personal connection to the show, which is what they want from their audience. It really is a great idea and crazy how we can become that connected and invested in TV shows today. I'm excited to read more about your topic of Social TV as well!

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  5. This is a great topic choice! I am interested to see the observations you make on this subject, mainly because I don't have a tv. I always watch tv on my computer, which I think is also an emerging trend. Between computers and DVR, I wonder how they affect this phenomenon? I can't wait to see the world your blog will open for me!

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  6. I love this theme for your blog! I am also interested in how TV shows are incorporating second screens more and more into their social media content. Something interesting you may want to check out is Twitter TV conversation targeting. TV conversation targeting makes it easier to reach people talking about TV programs, independent of when a TV program airs, or if a brand has a TV spot in the program. Through Twitter's sophisticated technology, the end result is a broad set of targetable users who have engaged with specific television programming, which allows brands to be relevant with marketing messages in new ways.

    You can read more info on this type of Twitter targeting here: https://biz.twitter.com/tv-targeting. Let me know what you think!

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