18 Oct Why Social Television is The Next Big Thing
Social media and television have thus far been uncomfortable bedfellows. Mr Social Web has been doing his best to encourage Miss TV into a union, but she’s always seemed to have a headache. As we’re fast coming to the time of the year when predictions for the next 12 months are abundant, however, I’m going to be among the first to stick my head above the parapet and forecast that 2011 will be the year when the two finally come together to make a beautiful baby: social television. And I’m not talking about TV invading the internet, I’m talking about the opposite; the social web invading the 36” HD plasma TV you watch every day.
Anyone who’s active on Twitter or Facebook (ie most of us) will have seen and probably been involved in the chatter around big television events. In the UK this year, for example, the televised leaders debates during the general election, the World Cup and Britain’s Got Talent all attracted massive comment and discussion on the social web. It’s currently the turn of X Factor; login to Twitter on a Saturday night or Facebook on a Sunday morning and you’ll be astounded by the volume of talk about the show.
At present you need to go somewhere else to join in with the conversation; you need a computer near the TV or a smartphone. But imagine if you could stream Twitter conversations or Facebook updates direct into your television experience. Imagine a TV ‘desktop’ that enables you to socialise and interact with your friends and followers through social media live on-screen. A side panel, perhaps, that streams in Twitter or Facebook, or both. To some it might sound horrific, but to many, particularly Generation Y, it’s long overdue. Gen Y is ready for change and wants social features integrated into its viewing experience. And from a social technology perspective, what Gen Y wants, Gen Y invariably gets.
The likes of the BBC, via its iPlayer, and Virgin Media, via its V+ box, are already investigating social viewing options and its only a matter of time before someone introduces an effective service. And when they do, other platforms will jump on it. And given how fast social tech moves, I feel that by the end of 2011 everyone reading this will have trialled social television in one form or another. And this will have huge implications for marketers, whether it’s advertisers via ‘sponsored tweets’ or PR and social communications pros getting involved in conversations on a Saturday night to promote their brand. Social TV could be the financial saviour of Twitter, and could further integrate Facebook into our lives…or alternatively be the making of a rival platform, such as diaspora.
We all know the social web is here to stay – this time next year even the critics might have to face up to that. What are your thoughts on the possibility, benefits and drawbacks of social television?
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