Want to understand one of the most important phenomenons of social TV? Start following some fake social TV accounts on Twitter. As Showtime’s “Homeland” continues to thrive as the number one drama on traditional TV, a new star has emerged on social TV. If you’re a Homeland fan, here’s the number one (fake) Twitter account you must be following.
HOMELAND FANS: If you are all caught up, follow my friend @sergeantbrody on Twitter.
— Aziz Ansari (@azizansari) November 26, 2012
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As Aziz mentioned, make sure you’re caught up on Homeland and then follow @SergeantBrody immediately, the hilarious faux Twitter handle of main character Sergeant Nicholas Brody. The account has only been tweeting since October 29th and already has close to 23,000 followers. For those looking for a simple, direct and hilarious second screen companion for the show, you’ve hit a gold mine. Here’s the most recent tweet – while this does reference something from a recent episode, it doesn’t give away much if you haven’t watched anything yet (reading the other tweets might though).
Does anyone want to play hearts with my stupid boring ass son Chris? #SometimesIWishThatVestDidntMalfunction
— Nicholas Brody (@SergeantBrody) December 4, 2012
Fake Twitter accounts have become a defining component of social TV. They have become the short-form fan fiction that allows us to live with our favorite characters in between episodes and after a season ends. My own introduction to social TV years ago came after learning about Mad Men’s @PeggyOlson’s success. Networks have attempted to leverage faux accounts and have also been criticized for not leveraging faux accounts enough.
Every single social TV fan has the capability to easily create a fake account, make it genuine and make it successful. We’ve even created an official #FakeAccount category for the Shorty Awards (the ceremony I produce). As the social TV industry blossoms, a requirement on every job application should be to see if you’ve been able to grow one well. Besides @SergeantBrody, my favorite fake accounts include @WillMcAvoyACN and @HomerSimpson. Let us know your favorite fake TV accounts in the comments.