If your television and social media feeds are overflowing with Ebola panic, here are some good social television links you may have missed this week for weekend reading pleasure.
1) “Selfie” and “A to Z” have a social media problem. We’ve written about how “Selfie” breaks the fourth wall, but this Guardian piece explores how this “new generation of romcoms” still struggles to depect social media and its use realistically:
Then there’s the problem of depicting tweeting, messaging and instagramming – behaviour that is not in itself exactly visually stunning. “Selfie”, like “You’re the Worst” and “Sherlock” before it, uses onscreen graphics of texts, Vines, and Instagram, floating words that resemble subtitles. The silent reading is similar to the quiet feedback loops of social media, which might just stop the audience looking away from the screen to tweet – for a minute at least. TV is painfully aware that social media is a powerful rival for viewers’ attentions, which perhaps accounts for its disparaging attitude towards it.
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2) Ello, the invite only social network, received a new round of funding and announced yesterday that it will be a PBC, so it can stay true to its “no advertising, ever” mission. The social network maintains that it will never treat users like a product, though that doesn’t mean it can’t be a commercial space, as this piece on The Atlantic explains. Television is the most commercial enterprise there can be and Twitter and Facebook and Tumblr have made strategic moves to cater to fans and networks. I’m guessing if you’re on Ello, you’re too cool to live-tweet “The Voice,” right?
3) This article on Nieman Lab explores how the MLB, in light of the World Series this month, really pioneered mobile streaming and subscription based video services. Now that networks are starting to unbundle, it’s worth a read to see what they did right to scale their services. Writer Ken Doctor notes that it’s not just access, but simple things like the fit and scale of the app, toggle features, and the organization of live or on-demand content. Something networks need to get over? Making content available wherever the audience is:
More than 400 mobile and connected devices are supported by MLB.TV, a behind-the-scenes buildout that makes watching fairly seamless. The average MLB.TV subscriber uses 2.6 devices, putting everyday reality into the promise of all-access subscriptions. “Connected” devices include that screen in your living room, as Roku, Apple TV, and other apps provide easy-to-choose big view watching.
Any other links we missed this week? Let us know @LostRemote.