To Twitter or not to Twitter?
June 11, 2008The rise of social media tools and their application to TV and fiction should make a broadcasters dream complete.
Twitter, yet another one of these – referred to as micro-blogging – allows people to let all their friends and interested others to know what they’re doing and where they are. Think the status update in Facebook. Why a separate utility to just MSN your friends, who knows?
The Guardian stated that “critics say it is another pointless distraction in a world already suffering information overload, and wonder how users manage to keep tabs on what they’re really up to.” But before long the journalist was hooked.
Recently in Campaign, the magazine for the UK communications industry, a report documented the online flurry during the Euro 2008 matches. Fans and viewers chatted and texted their friends during the match with opinions, comic relief and such. So, reality television programs can get a slice of online action through these tools also. Of course, nothing new here: MSN and Yahoo Messenger have been doing that for too long. But now, you can do twitter online or by mobile and publish your messages to a blog, a website or your Twitter page. How much more would online traffic increase if fans of Big Brother could ‘twitter’ with their friends and their ‘twits’ posted to the Big Brother website instantly while they are actually watching the show on TV? Hmm.
And how do these apply to online fiction? Recently, as part of the Penguin Books’ ‘Six Authors. Six Stories. Six Weeks.’ a story was created using Google Maps. Author Charles Cumming’s story ’21 Steps’ takes readers into the protagonist’s plight as he traverses across the world, virtually.
So what if a writer did the same thing via Twitter with a fictional character? It’s already been tried and tested. In December last year, Twittories, began an online collaborative writing project via Twitter.
Or what about Socialight.com? When a reader is physically in a place where part of your story unfolds, they receive messages to their mobile phone regarding the location or the characters.
What will be next?
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