Chris Anderson predicted broadcast TV would die, but it didn’t.

Social media is the new watercooler

He reports one executive’s comment that social media is the new watercooler, providing the vehicle to share cultural references and keeping the shared viewing experience alive. Live events are a common example of traditional TV and social media working in harmony, with social adding a new dimension through ‘second screen’ commentary and witty banter.

Active or passive discovery?

But it’s not just live events. Sometimes we don’t want to have work to find our entertainment, we just want to switch on the box and see what’s on. Here again social can help. If you’re channel hopping and a friend tweets about a show you like that’s on now, you may well follow their recommendation (even if it is just to see the size of a squirrel’s nuts on The Great British Bake Off).

Default sharing

Netflix, the on-demand internet streaming service, launched recently in the UK and have taken social sharing a stage further. They only give the option to sign up with a Facebook account. They use this to publish shows you’ve watched to your friends and therefore drive implicit recommendation. You can un-authorise the app afterward or use the ‘Don’t share on Facebook’ button if you don’t want to share your viewing habits with the world, but the point is that social sharing is now on by default.