TV and Social Networks - Why Does It Work?

Signs of the internet combining with traditional TV have been emerging for quite some time with sites like Hulu (US) and CatchupTV (UK). This past autumn, Fox experimented with live tweeting during episodes of Fringe and Glee called "Tweet-peats." Today, TV viewers and the digerati can enjoy the best of the best of both worlds to an even greater extent when social networking and online TV  merges on the same platform - with a new social media application called "Strictly Social."

First introduced with the BBC's version of The Apprentice, viewers could visit the TV show's online microsite and predict which candidates would 'get the point of doom' at the end of each episode.

The BBC's Apprentice
This year's the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing series – which can be viewed live on the BBC website –Judge the Judges have moved the needle further to elicit greater interaction with the viewing audience. The Strictly Social website allows fans to predict judges' scores, post their text comments in a real-time chat box and answer quiz questions pertaining to the show.



Viewers can also post positive or negative critiques with a simple "wow," "boo" or "gasp" and a widget will aggregate the consensus and display the critique words in small-to-large font sizes dependent on the results of the vote.

"As far as we're concerned now, social media is part of what people do Jo Twisteveryday and social viewing is part of our wider strategy for entertainment," says Jo Twist, BBC multi-platform commissioner for entertainment and BBC Switch. Like others in the entertainment space, Twist is focusing on the "fan" element to drive interaction.




"The older traditional TV audience is not all on Twitter or Facebook, but they might want to do something like Strictly Social which is part of their normal sofa experience," says Twist.

US Audiences can join in as well, by registering 30 minutes prior to the the show's start (approximately 12 Noon ET on Saturdays (1800 hours in the UK), and the the interaction continues for 15 minutes after Strictly Come Dancing finishes on TV. Viewers can read about this season's cast members and learn the results of previous episodes, at the show's Web site.