Television has always been a social medium. In the beginning it may have been because not everyone had a TV and groups would gather around one TV to be able to see The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Today, many of us watch TV with our spouse or family and often invite friends over to watch major events. Everything from the last episode of a favorite series to a major (or even minor) sporting event is reason to get a group to gather around the TV. One of the reasons we like bigger and bigger screens is that it lets us watch with more friends more comfortably.
With the rise of the “new” social media, there seems to be a rush to put Facebook, Twitter and who knows what else on the TV screen. I for one, can’t think of a worse idea.
Before plowing ahead we need to think about the different kinds of social media. I suggest we use the terminology… selected social media (Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in, etc) and open social media (like television with ad-hoc groups with different relationships).
Television is often experienced in groups, although we may not choose to watch a gory action movie when the kids are in the room, what comes on the screen is for everyone in the room. Not so much with the “new” social media. Although we choose (sometimes on purpose and sometimes by accident) to share on-line messages with a group of friends… it is a chosen group that doesn’t include everyone in the room.
Ask yourself this question… would I watch a TV show or sports event with my mother in law? Probably yes. Would I want her reading all of my friend’s tweets? Probably not. This illustrates the difference between selected and open social media.
With this in mind, I suggest that putting selected social media on the big screen where it can be experienced by open / ad-hoc group is a bad idea. Keep those interactions on your personal devices (smart phones, tablets, etc) where the select group is kept select.
What do you think? Post a comment and let me know.
The Evolution of Television 
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