Social TV.
In recent years there has been a number of discussions of where TV is heading. After all, peer-to-peer technology, like P2PTV that I discussed a couple of years ago, and PVRs like Tivo are changing the way that television is being watched. What happens with advertising when people skip the commercials? Will Tivo’s new superimposed advertising work? So it’s not surprising, but it is fun, to hear the discussion for television start to converge with social software.
Called Social TV, Tom Coates from plasticbag.org has an article and a paper on the subject. Meanwhile PARC has been conducting experiments, so has Alcatel with a product called AmigoTV.
The concept is about linking television viewers via the internet, adding microphones and cameras to a set top box, and allowing wide area social interactions while watching your favourite TV show. Tom also suggests a system where an instant message like presence is involved. When your friends log on, they see what you watching and can join in, or if someone changes channels, you’re notified and offered the choice to join them. Throw in peering of shows, and elements like Battlestar Galactica’s podcast and you’ve got TV’s new killer application.
Imagine Social TV mixed with Reality TV, where the audience becomes the subject. It’s only a matter of time. I’d imagine that the first broadcaster, cable or spectrum based, who tap into the idea will start a whole new revolution. As I keep saying, the internet is about sharing. It’s the communities that it’s building that is making such a fundamental change in the way we exist. Gone are the days of local communities. We’re literally in the midst of the global village.