Twitter & TV

Jeffrey Young | @jeffrey_young09 Television became a household staple in the 1950's.  Between 1950 - 1960, the amount of American households with a TV set increased to 60 million.  The TV has continued to evolve since its most primitive introduction in 1880.  As the device continues to evolve, so do social networks that wish to integrate it into their platform.

People began to surf the internet and watch TV at the same time, and from that, the popular term dual screening was born.  Dual screening is the act of watching TV while simultaneously using a laptop.

Merging social media & TV

Twitter recently acquired two companies that are actively merging social media and TV.  To date, Nielsen has been in the business of gathering television show statistics and selling the information.  Twitter is planning on collaborating closely with Nielsen, ultimately changing the way television shows will be rated in the future. Ratings will provide advertisers with statistical information about social activity to use in catering to their audience's tastes.

Many shows, such as Glee, already receive a lot of retweets, comments, and favorites on their posts. Twitter recognized the traction brands received from the Super Bowl, and acknowledged the way its platform complements the TV watching experience.

Twitter desires to become the popular go-to place for everything associated with TV. The company wants to leverage the interaction they're already gaining through these popular TV shows, and go forward with vast improvements towards TV  becoming more social.