Like all social activities, television-watching demands compromise. People may have strong ideas about what they want to watch, but what they really want to do is watch together. - The Economist
I am a huge Grey's fan. So are my friends. We don't get to watch it together. But we watch it together. Chirping Blackberry phones, FB status updates and comments, tweets. The experience of watching tv with friends all across the country and around the world has the ability to create an almost cult-like experience, in real time and in post-time. You can collectively cheer, gnash teeth and cry because you're connected and it no longer is a solitary experience with you and your ice cream. It's that whole communal element that made tv so popular in the first place.
NBC recently revealed its new social initiative on its MyNBC platform. ABC, which is the network which created Grey's Anatomy needs to get us on board!!! Ah. No need to get off the couch and go anywhere. And though we don't get Hulu videos here, the idea of social tv is one which works for this generation of social networkers who love tv and who live for exciting season finales. I thoroughly enjoy sharing my fave shows with friends who feel the exact same way about the show, because it's not the same when your husband or boyfriend is forced to watch it with you because of blackmail. It's just not the same.
Does the lean-forward experience, interactivity and backchannel chatter of social networks have a place in the tightly controlled, lean-back world of television? - JD Lasica
The answer is a resounding yes!
