BLOG

We were exhibiting and talking at the Social TV forum in London Olympia yesterday - a first for us. Generally worthwhile, we met loads of great people. I talked on a panel which felt a little too much like a sales pitch (hopefully not from me), but hey I suppose we're all selling something. Agit8or obviously had a similar feeling in his post. One of the most interesting things is that the term Social TV doesn't really have a definition. I've written a lot about this in an earlier blog, but it's really becoming a problematic term, as people lump in UGC video with a bit of chat on the side, along with a prime-time TV show with a play-along component. We won't be letting go of it anytime soon because it's a convenient pigeonhole, but I'm trying to think of another term which includes passive synchronised content and that which isn't necessarily Social!

This piece is now over a year old, a lot has happened since. It's still valid and many of the predictions are coming true From Liz Murdoch to Deloitte, it seems everyone is talking about how social media, the realtime web and TV are colliding. But in the midst of the hype and anticipation there's very little practical discussion about how to implement useful offerings now and how they can make money. I've been involved with many Social TV projects over the last few years, so I've written a post/paper which shares some of what we've learned. It covers the definition of Social TV, why and how broadcasters should get involved now, ways of activating audiences and a series of recommended steps to take in 2010. If you've only got a few minutes, skip to the end for a roundup.