In May, after becoming the first newsmagazine to reach one million Facebook likes, ‘Dateline’ hosted a contest on its Facebook page. Entrants would have the opportunity to represent the million during a trip to New York, where they would be able to go behind the scenes with the ‘Dateline’ team. Fans just had to write why they are the most loyal viewer.
Kim T., the contest winner, arrived in New York last week and she and her guest ‘photobombed’ Lester Holt at a taping last night, attended a ‘Dateline’ story meeting, sat in on edits, and cheered on the ‘Dateline’ softball team. The two are documenting their experience on Twitter with hashtag #DivasDoDateline.
Kim created @DatelineDivas, a Twitter account with over 1.3k followers that evolved organically from her interactions with ‘Dateline’ correspondents and loyal fans of the show. BlogHer noted in a 2014 article that ‘Dateline Divas’ was taking “interactive viewing to the next level.” Kim and her group of “divas” live-tweet during the show each week and regularly interact with Keith Morrison and Josh Mankiewicz. Kim also uses her personal Twitter account @kimt205 to tweet poems about her ‘Dateline’ “hobby,” as she puts it, and track Josh Mankiewicz’s ever-changing collection of pocket squares.
Hey @JackieEllCee, @LesterHoltNBC says hello!! @DatelineNBC #DivasDoDateline pic.twitter.com/mgS9V9YtiQ
— Kim (@kimt205) July 10, 2014
‘Dateline’ has an extremely loyal fan base that’s active on social. Every Monday, Dateline posts on Facebook about a missing person brought to its attention by viewers in the hope of spreading the word and bringing that person safely home. Using a Facebook promotion to bring one of the show’s most loyal fans to New York, is a perfect example of a brand that doesn’t use social solely for tune-in or one-way messaging, but truly engages its fans.