It is that exciting time of year again where millions will be glued to their TV screens for the 2011 Annual Academy Awards. Many viewers gather around the living room with friends and family fervently making predictions as each award and the nominees are announced. As this year’s hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway say the following words, “And the winner is…” viewers will be doing more than just jumping in excitement or cursing is disbelief, many people will grab their cell phones, if not already in-hand, and immediately update their Facebook status or Tweet their feelings on a recently announced decision. In today’s world, this course of action is not second-guessed but rather second nature, which social media can take credit for. Today, keeping with the Academy Awards example, it is realistic for a person to know who won the award for Best Picture, even while not having watched the program on ABC. Furthermore, it is not even that this person would log online the next day when it is all posted. This person would have real time updates to their smart phone, just by checking through their Twitter or Facebook or any other social networking site.
Through this realized potential, TV networks are figuring out just how they can capitalize on such power. In the Times article written by Stetler, he describes this media effect as “people gathering around a water cooler”. Television executives are just a step behind listening in, and hoping that they are continually being talked about, this as an extension means their shows are being watched. Television executives are continually trying to find ways to have more viewers tune into their stations. The Grammy Awards last week had the highest rating in a decade, proving that social media can inflate already big events, but give a chance for smaller shows to earn their spot in limelight. ABC/Disney Television Group vice executive president, while speaking about the multi-tasking that occurs while watching TV states, “how do we tap into that and create a whole different consumer experience?” Stetler goes on to talk about Debra Lee, chief executive of BET who claims, “we can now tell when something’s a hit almost immediately — by seeing how many of the trending topics on Twitter belong to us.” It is this new consumer experience that social media has proliferated.
Social media is not only a goldmine for TV executives or anyone that needs a new marketing strategy but a breeding ground for new ideas. For those of you who have a Twitter, you can agree with me in the fact that there are some incredibly absurd but also some very interesting things to follow. The topics range from news stations to your favorite sports teams to famous celebrities who have been verified to jokesters like Lord Voldemort and Chuck Norris. I think it can be agreed that you can find some time each day or so to see what these people are tweeting about. One of these people happens to be @shitmydadsays, and for those of you who don’t know that just happens to be a Twitter account, which had 2 million plus followers, turned hit CBS show garnering 12.5 million viewers. Further, CBS has reached a deal with @shhdontellsteve, another Twitter account that follows the antics of a guy’s roommate. Don’t Tell Steve will be joining the CBS comedy line up sometime this upcoming year. Its almost hard to believe that if you just decided one day to tweet about the crazy things your dad says or even the crazy stuff your roommate does, you would be given a contract with CBS for a hit TV show.
As our generation especially decides to continue standing around the water cooler, the TV industry will continue to propagate and feed off the potential that social media has provided for them. As more people become accustomed to their smart phones and continue to use their social media, there is an endless possibility to what the TV industry can achieve. The industry has already begun to make apps for you IPhone and IPad for specific shows to use as a research database. We can only imagine what lies on the horizon for the TV Industry and how we will be apart of its future thanks to social media.
Works Cited
"CBS Turns Another Twitter Account into a TV Show." Social Media News and Web Tips – Mashable – The Social Media Guide. 30 Apr. 2009. Web. 21 Feb. 2011.
"'New York Times' Bans the Word 'Tweet' | The Awl." The Awl - Be Less Stupid. Web. 21 Feb. 2011.
Stelter, Brian. "TV Industry Taps Twitter and Facebook for Viewers." NYTimes.com. 20 Feb. 2011. Web. 21 Feb. 2011.
Social media has quickly consumed our society, so it is no surprise that the TV industry has also jumped on the bandwagon. In a world in which staying connected seems to be necessary, information technology has developed sites that are very convenient and user friendly. As Dilshan mentioned, websites such as Facebook and Twitter are accessible from smart phones and apps on iPods and iPads. We are constantly being updated with friend's statuses, comments, and tweets. While informal in their nature, these social media sites prove to foster a haven for creativity and wit. People are able to post what they are thinking, what they are observing, what they have experienced in an instant. As a result, the TV industry has a lot of content to work from to create new funny, original, and relatable shows. And better yet, people will tweet and post their opinions about the shows while they air. Whether you realize it or not, your use of social media to voice your opinions is marketing the programs. Both the positive comments and the negative comments help the networks to improve their shows. The TV industry is definitely capitalizing on the popularity of social media. Aside from creating new T.V. shows, it will be interesting to see what else the TV industry comes up with.
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