Recent data from Nielsen shows that, in spite of rumors otherwise, we watch a lot of television every day. How much is a lot of television? On average about 5 hours of it as well as 34 more minutes of time shifted programming.
TV is dead? Um… not quite.
What’s helping to drive television’s continued popularity may surprise you – it’s social media. Social media is not replacing television in our lives. What it is doing is changing how we watch television.
In the past watching television was an isolated, catatonic, and passive human experience. We stared, like couch bound zombies, across the living room at the glowing pictures and chuckled in sync with the laugh tracks. Today, television watching is becoming something all together different.
Television viewers now use social media to make the television experience active and engaging. People watch television with iPhones or tablets in hand, while chatting about programs in real time with friends & strangers on Twitter and Facebook. They share opinions. They express feelings and desires. They share jokes and create their own back channel conversations around the programs. Programs themselves are commonly using hashtags to connect viewers and foster this dialogue.
Social media has not killed television, but has actually made it better. Sports fans talk trash and celebrate together in real time. Awards shows are marked with banter and commentary. Shows are found and discussed, critiqued, and supported in real time. The opportunity for marketers and brands to learn and serve people has never been better.
The new world of marketing is not about tightly defined platforms, but rather about a seamless stream of content and conversation that transcends a single form of media.
It appears that the revolution will in fact continue to be televised and you can talk about it with your followers on Twitter.
