Keep tweeting! Social media is impacting Nielsen ratings, Billboard, Comcast

You knew it would happen. Social media is becoming an influence on television and music ratings. I know that most of my tweeting has to do with television, movies, music and actors, so it makes sense to me.

Here's a couple of articles that were interesting.



Nielsen Now Rates Your Tweets About TV Shows - Brian Feldman - The Atlantic Wire

Nielsen has announced a new ratings system that takes into account tweets about a show as well as the audience exposed to those tweets. As Scandal fans already know, the second-screen experience has become an essential part of viewing some television shows, and Twitter is trying to make the platform appealing to media partners as a possible way of increasing revenue.

The way the system works is that a tweet that appears in a user's feed is known as an impression, so while a relatively small amount of the viewership is actively tweeting about a television show, a much larger audience is seeing the chatter. For example, via the Los Angeles Times, a show like The Voice has an online audience 50 times greater than the number of people actually tweeting. Nielsen "also has identified 35,000 Twitter accounts, created by networks, actors, athletes, professional sports teams and others associated with TV programming."

Online interaction with media is fast becoming a metric of success in various parts of the entertainment industry. At the beginning of the year, Billboard began counting YouTube views in its chart calculations, propelling one-hit wonder Baauer's "Harlem Shake" to the top position. Additionally, Nielsen itself also started counting online television views as well a few months ago.

Though Nielsen's new system is a separate metric from its main TV ratings system, it's still another way for networks and their advertisers to judge the reach of their message. It's possible that in the face of th DVR, social media is making TV appointment viewing again. It's unclear if that trend will carry over to a more asynchronous viewing event like filmgoing, but hopefully not.

Comcast Launches 'See It' Feature to Spur TV Watching, First with Twitter

Andrew Wallenstein
Editor-in-chief: Digital
@awallenstein

Comcast has made Twitter its first partner for “See It,” a new feature that will close the loop between TV programming and the social conversation that takes place around it online.

“See It” will allow TV watchers to record and watch programming directly off digital platforms, first strictly with the conglomerate’s own NBC Universal programming via tweets beginning in November. Here are the official announcements of the deal from Twitter and Comcast, respectively.

While Twitter is the inaugural partner, Comcast intends to make the “See It” button as ubiquitous as a Facebook “like” on any screen where TV content is being discussed. The company expects to build a roster of partnerships that could include other social media giants like Facebook, entertainment-centric partners like IMDB and even rival pay-TV distributors like DirecTV and brands at content companies outside its ownership like Disney and News Corp.

“See It” will allow Twitter users who are also Comcast subs to either watch live TV or access VOD programming on their set-top box or watch it directly online, regardless of their mobile device. In addition, “See It” could be used to set a DVR to record a future programing or set a programming reminder. Comcast-owned movie-ticketing service, Fandango, will also be tapped via Twitter, to enable buying theater tickets.

While only subscribers of Comcast, the largest cable operator in the U.S., who use its Xfinity platform will be able to access the full range of “See It” features, even viewers who don’t subscribe to any multichannel service will be entitled to some content, though exactly what hasn’t been determined.
 

 

MySpace deletes everyone's personal data

I haven't used MySpace for quite a few years but I used to have several accounts. Apparently MySpace decided not only to completely redo their site but they also removed everyone's personal data. It was very strange going to my pages and seeing nothing familiar except my avatars.

I thought that I was missing something. Surely all the pictures and blog entries are there somewhere. I checked my emails. Did I get an email warning me to save my data because they were deleting it? No.

Now, because I didn't go to MySpace anymore I wasn't very upset, but it did get me thinking - This is going to be Facebook in 10 years. Think about it. What's to stop them from deciding to start over and deleting all our pictures and posts.

MySpace has been dead for years, and we all know that, but that doesn't mean there weren't people there that had pictures and blog entries saved from their years of using it. Some people I'm sure felt secure that they could go back and see the page dedicated to a love one who had past on, or old stories they had written as a teen.

All of it was taken away. Thrown in the trash. All because MySpace decided to change not only the face of MySpace but what you could do on it. No more blogs, posts, custom designs, games, videos or private messages. They're all gone. Without one word of warning. Only this in the aftermath:

We know that this is upsetting to some but it gives us a chance to really concentrate on creating a new experience for discovery and expression. Feel free to hit the Me Too button if you have similar questions so we can track your needs and concerns.

And this from MySpace CEO:

“The magic of Myspace has always been at the intersection of creative expression, community, promotion, and discovery,” said Myspace CEO Tim Vanderhook. “Myspace aims to power a new ecosystem catering directly to the creative community, enabling artists to manage their digital presence, build an audience, upload and distribute their content, and learn from data all on a single platform.”

Apparently, after so many complaints they decided to see if there was a way to get people their data. This was added to the above post on MySpace on 6/28/13:

Blog Update
Thank you everyone for your feedback regarding your classic Myspace blogs. We understand that this information is very important to you and apologize for not providing an answer sooner. Please understand that your blogs have not been deleted. Your content is safe and we have been discussing the best ways possible to provide you your blogs.

I'm glad people will hopefully be getting there things back. But still, too little too late in my book. Did they not see that people would be in an uproar? If they had they would have changed how they did this. It's not that MySpace has decided to remove the old to make room for the new. It's that they never considered the fact that they were dealing with people. Real people with honest emotional attachments.

Shame on you MySpace.

Let this be a warning to all of us who are now on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and other social media sites. Even cloud drives. Eventually those will get taken down, transformed, and all that data you've been saving for years will be lost. Back up your stuff. Don't rely on the internet to keep it safe.


(Source of Myspace responses: Reviewed Feedback)