For the first time, Twitter is working with Syco Television, FremantleMedia and Fox to allow X Factor fans and viewers to vote on contests via DM on Twitter in addition phone and text message. The release explains:
Fans can vote via Twitter using the instructions and prompt at twitter.thexfactorusa.com. Once fans sign up for Twitter, they must then follow @TheXFactorUSA and cast their votes via Direct Message. Direct Messaging is a private way to communicate on Twitter. Votes will not be publicly visible. Tweets will not count as votes.
The New York Times describes the voting as “the result of a new technological investment by Twitter and is a reflection of the company’s symbiotic relationship with the television industry.” Twitter’s Rachael Horwitz confirmed to us that “Twitter just made it possible so @XFactorUSA doesn’t need to follow a user to receive a DM.” Twitter users know that to DM someone that person needs to be following you, not the other way around. You can see here that after following the account I was able to send a DM, even though I’m not being followed (the account currently follows 755 users):
Excitement from celebrity judge and producer Simon Cowell:
Even Judge and Executive Producer Simon Cowell is excited about the voting:
“It’s like having millions of producers working with you,” said Mr. Cowell, who once dismissed Twitter as a lightweight list of strangers’ lunch plans but who is now a convert to the social networking Web site.
The partners that made the voting possible:
The on-air integration is being powered by Twitter ecosystem partner Mass Relevance. Founder and CEO Sam Decker commented and explained their role in the campaign to Lost Remote:
“Audiences get a sense of the buzz during the show with the on screen visualization, and it pulls them in along with the on-air hashtag to be part of that conversation. Then, they can go to the full microsite to get a larger sense of the conversation and voting. It’s a well-integrated experience. We’re thrilled to be be part of this by powering the data and curated content through the Mass Relevance platform.”
Verizon is the official “voting” sponsor providing the X Factor App for Android. Users will be able to vote via Twitter using the app as well. The New York Times reports that Twitter doesn’t have financial involvement in this process but quotes CEO Dick Costello that “projects like it ‘are going to result in financial benefits down the road.'”
Twitter’s Director of Content and Programming Chloe Sladden has boldly stated that “The X Factor has raised the bar for innovative television with its use of Twitter to create a 360-degree experience around the show’s judges, finalists and viewers,” and that she is “thrilled to see the creators of The X Factor push the envelope further by being the first television show to formalize this phenomenon through Twitter voting”.