Will Twitter make Social TV Fly?

Television has inherently been a social experience for decades, dominating water cooler conversations worldwide. But as social networking enters the living room via embedded Twitter and Facebook streams, some observers see it changing the live experience altogether, potentially shaking up the billions of dollars spent on TV advertising, while ushering in new ways to reach audiences online.

A race is underway to turn social networking into an engaging 10-foot experience–one that we interact with via TVs. Online video viewing and social networking are set to dominate internet use over the coming year, according to two studies into new media and technology. New research from Parks Associates found that many Gen Y TV viewers are ready for a change when it comes to their television-viewing experience. According to a recent report, over one-fourth of users ages 18-24 are interested in having more social media features integrated into their TV. This data should come as good news to companies like Yahoo!, who have been pushing their new social networking widgets.

But it also has broader implications that go beyond digital natives just wanting Facebook on their TV. The study found that there’s a desire to use social networking as a platform to actually enhance the TV-viewing experience through interactive chats with other viewers and to have the ability to recommend shows to friends via Twitter.

James Grant Hay is a digital entertainment consultant and founder and CEO of InShot, an agency which regularly advises rights holders on the impact of social media in connected entertainment.