The below post is part of our 2014 Social TV Year-in-Review guest post series and is written by Tagboard Chief Media Officer Jenni Hogan.
2014: Viewers Turn Into Social Teammates
When I won an Emmy for interactivity I thanked my “teammates” for making the win possible. Those teammates I was referring too were not only co-workers but also the viewers who helped our campaign trend worldwide by reacting to our calls to action on social media. As I look back at 2014 it hits me that the broadcasters we are now arming with technology that helps them embrace social TV are, in turn, embracing this power of the social teammate army. Media is no longer a one-way information path with viewers: it’s a two-way conversation.
Hashtags have been prevalent for a few years now, but in 2014 they made the social TV leap – empowering viewers to wave their hands and contribute to the public conversation.
Producers are leveraging unique hashtags around topics they are pre-producing or they are jumping on community-created hashtags to listen to and identify what their viewers are talking about. For the community-led conversations, local news organizations have begun to lead their newscasts with this viewer-generated content. One such example is #Ferguson, with many news stations relying on reporting by viewers on the ground. Another example is #36PitFire, which allowed stations to show devastating footage of wildfires before crews could get out to the scene.
Broadcasters leveraging social TV in the right ways can have an impact on more than just the viewers watching a show live. Social TV extends to the viewers’ online communities and it causes an amplified effect. In creating technology that is easy and safe to employ, we’ve seen wonderful results.
A highlight of our year was helping the BBC in Scotland be the first in the world to announce the results of the independence vote. The live conversation drove more than seven million tweets using the hashtag #indyRef. The BBC utilized social media to update their viewers on the result, showing the Prime Minister’s tweet within seconds of him posting it. It’s a moment in history our team will remember being a part of forever.
2014 was also the year of local news organizations, and it’s been exciting to be a part of FOX Philadelphia’s new interactive weekend show as they experiment with social TV. The hashtag #Fox29weekend trended nationally within minutes of their launch show going live because they had so many viewers interacting with their content. We’ve seen stations experiment with social do-good campaigns, launch question and answer segments, and lead newscasts with viewer-generated content from breaking news. It’s been a year of experimenting, and social TV has become an expectation that’s integrated throughout live shows.
As we watch the entire media landscape, national pre-produced shows are finding their comfort zone too. One of my favorite national campaigns to watch has been ‘The Price Is Right’s’ search for its next male model via the hashtag #NextPriceModel. Game shows and shows like ‘American Idol’ are starting to compete for talent through social TV rather than the traditional media-tour audition process. The live event shows are also really paving the way for social TV innovation with Ellen’s selfie moment at the Oscars being a highlight of the year.
The most exciting thing is that even with broadcast companies pushing their content creators to produce with social TV top of mind, the industry has just scratched the surface. Broadcasters are seeing the engagement potential of embracing their social teammates and in 2015 we can expect to see more experiments and innovation from content creators. We’ll also see more broadcasters integrating brands into the social TV experience so that they too become an authentic part of the conversation and can support coverage that their community is passionate about.
Cheers to embracing your social teammates, putting a spotlight on their voices and continuing to innovate in social TV.