Twitter and TV: A Public Media Workshop

Upping our Social Media IQ:

Twitter Workshop

May 2015

As television producers, why do we care

about social media?

• Because our viewers are expecting more from us.

• Because our competitors are offering a different experience

• Because it gives us an opportunity to reach new audiences, up our ratings, and make deeper connections with current fans.

Social Media Today

Social media has become the dominant

way that audiences are discovering and

engaging with our content and brands.

74% of adults online use a social networking site.

90% of 18-29 year olds use social media

TV viewers are getting older.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1991 2000 2010 2015

Fox

ABC

NBC

CBS

Wait, are young people not watching TV?

Age of network TV viewer, 1991 - 2015

… no, they’re watching more TV -- just in

different places.

1 hour, 16 minutes

Average time US adults are watching digital video each day. (39 minutes on mobile, 22 on tablets, 24 on desktops) -eMarketer

In 2015, the average amount of time spent watching TV will drop

20 minutes

Where are these viewers going?

• YouTube (and now Facebook)

• Mobile and social media

“Our stars are influential, our viewers are young, they favor consuming media on mobile devices, and they are never going to watch TV the way that previous generations did.” –WSJ on the YouTube UpFronts

• Streaming sites (Netflix, Hulu, apps)

Traditional TV model: “If you build it,

they will come.”

AudienceBroadcast

“If you build it, they will come.”

“The people formerly known as the audience.”

Today, content discovery is personalized & contextual. Our audience will not find our content, as so much is being delivered directly to them.

Disruption: Periscope at the Mayweather-

Pacquiao match

Disruption: Periscope at the Mayweather-

Pacquiao match

Periscope users pirated the HBO feed, allowing their followers to circumvent the $100 pay-per-view charge.

HBO itself sent mixed messages about exclusive content.

The Engagement Ecosystem

Twitter-Second screen platform-Live tweeting-Trending conversations

Facebook -Deeper engagement-Huge traffic driver-Algorithm makes live engagement difficult-Video is king

Snapchat-Younger demographic-Ephemeral content

1-1 messaging-Kik-WhatsApp

-Fan creator community (art, mashups, creativity)

What engagement

experiences do

different social media

platforms provide?

Different social platforms can serve different

goals

Sample goal Target social platform

Thought leadership LinkedIn, blogs

Engagement Facebook, Twitter, 1-1 apps

Traffic to my website Facebook, Reddit

Product promotion Facebook ads, Pinterest

Vibrant fan community Tumblr, Instagram

How can WGBH productions use social media?

• Engage with our audiences

• Hear what people are saying about our programs or

departments

• Enable discovery of our shows and content

• Learn about our audiences

• Get feedback from the public

• Create a home for discussion and reaction to our

content

• Build a community around our programming

• Feature our fans’ submissions and ideas

The role of Twitter

Twitter has positioned itself to be the go-to

social network for two things: TV and news.

TV: Twitter acts as a second screen during a live

broadcasts

News: Twitter can share and verify breaking news

and information

Twitter TV

Nielsen has found

correlations between

Twitter activity and

ratings. This chart

demonstrates how How

Twitter activity around a

live broadcast can act

accurately as a bellwether

for measuring how

engaged TV audiences are

with programming

(overall)

Today: Social engagement is no longer

tied to a live broadcast

Live TV is changing, and Twitter is adapting. It’s not all tied to live broadcast anymore.

Twitter activity during broadcast and after. 61% of the social conversation happens after broadcast (1 hour after, days and weeks after)

We should be using Twitter…

• … Wisely. Understand that the conversation here is only a small % of the total audience that you can capture on social

• For community building. Develop interest in your broadcast even from pre-production. Find influential advocates and organic fans that will expand your reach. Find key conversations and become a valuable contributor.

• To become a must-follow for fans. Create exclusive content for social media that rewards the fans and gives access they wouldn’t get elsewhere. You need to give them a reason to follow you.

• For live tweeting. Twitter is the best platform to have a live conversation about what’s happening now on your screen.

Using Twitter:

The Essentials

What is Twitter?

• Microblogging platform, launched in 2006.

• Text messages limited to 140 characters

• Registered users can read and post tweets• Unregistered users can only read tweets

• There are 270 million active registered Twitter users

• By the end of the year, one fifth of internet users in the US are expected to have Twitter accounts.

• Between January and April 2014, 17 million Americans shared tweets about a TV show.

140

270m

17m

Twitter Lingo

To Tweet

Tweeting…Not twittering.Tweeter

… Not Twitterer.

Attracting the non-Tweeters

Twitter has changed the experience for non-logged in users.

Twitter.comhomepage now has topics to explore, and shows a timeline of tweets from some of the most popular accounts on that topic.

Anatomy of a Tweet

Username

Profile photoLink

= 112 characters

Handle

Actions

Date sent

Actions

Mentions and replies

Retweet

Favorite

Direct message

@

RT

★

DM

Navigating Twitter

Timeline

Mentions & Interactions

Search

Direct messages

Compose

The Hashtag #

• A brief search term, beginning with #• You can search Twitter for all tweets with #• #s serve as keywords to highlight discussions• Hashtags unify a group of threads or tweets• A # that catches on and becomes widely used

can amplify issues very quickly

Get Started.

5 Essential Best Practices

1) The 80/20 rule: Out of every 100 tweets, 20 should be promotional and the rest should share, curate content and add to existing conversations.

3) Keep it short: 120 characters or less is best.

2) Be visual

4) Interact

5) Be simple: Convey one idea only.

Twitter Faux Pas

Auto tweets If you don’t have time to craft a tweet, don’t tweet.

Starting with an “@” signStart your public tweets with a “.@“ so everyone can see it

Start Listening. People are out

there talking about your content!

Set up your Twitter client.

Follow lists Check mentions Track broadcasts

First steps for your production

• Identify the skills you need to get going. I can help you with this!

• Start listening and engaging. Get a sense of your competition, your peers and your own reputation on social.

• Establish goals and a way to measure it. Do you want social to drive tune in? To become a vibrant community for fans? To act as a curator for all past and present content?

• Think social from the very first step. Have a strategy for social from Day 1 of production to well after broadcast.

• Create a culture of social. Set expectations and clear guidelines for production staff and talent.