Social TV – What is next?

What is social TV? It is letting TV viewers experience Face book (FB) or Twitter computer task on a TV screen. Well this is just another thing to keep the TV couch potatoes from moving away from their televisions. In July of 2009, Verizon introduced Face book and Twitter widgets for FiOS TV users. There are some people who just love their TV and this new way of using it socially is now available to them. For example, FB users can now click on the “What are you watching” icon and this will enable them to comment on the show they are watching.

Similarly, Twitter users can follow posts about the shows they are viewing and since Verizon knows what channel is tuned to, it can instantly make a custom Twitter feed based on the show’s title and be able to get a collection of comments as the show is aired.

In fact, Social TV takes the control of the content out of the hands of the media organizations and gives control to views to draw on spontaneous web activities. What makes this experience enjoyable is the way it enables viewers to instantly share their ideas and comments with their friends who are also watching the same shows. This will also increase the chances of people acting on your recommendations and give programmers feedback on the shows appeal and deliver this information to advertisers. Subscribers can Tweet about the TV show, search and follow their friends’ Tweets. Viewers can update their Face book status with their own messages and all of this is done via the FiOS TV remote control and onscreen keyboard. What makes this a unique feature is that Verizon can upgrade and add features that cable subscribers do not currently have. Will this new feature give Verizon an edge on other cable companies? I think it will and I cannot wait to see the statistics of how many people make the switch to Verizon FiOS to enjoy this convenience of social networking on their TV.

In order to make this experience available to consumers, I found that Samsung is now going to make televisions with this type of connection already built in. Every time you turn around, there is something else in the technology and gadget world that is keeping people connected and enabling them to share their experiences. So what are you watching on TV tonight?

You can click on this link “Verizon Brings the Web to the TV with Face book, Twitter and Internet Videos” to read the news release that appeared on the Verizon webpage on July 15, 2009.