Live From Twitter, It's ...!

It's not enough to just watch TV anymore.

Maybe it's our decaying attention spans. I like to think that it's the excitement of being able to share witty comments with thousands of people who are watching the same show as you. (...But honestly the attention span-thing may be a major part of it.)

Regardless, every night, whether organized around a main Twitter account or not, people get online to Live-Tweet their thoughts as they watch their favorite TV shows. (You may be familiar with it from that one time you went online at 5pm and all the East Coast viewers spoiled the show for you. But it's okay. You can learn to forgive.)

My favorite one to follow is NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Every night, they have bloggers on Twitter to engage in conversations with anyone using the hashtag #FallonTonight. People tweet out their comments on Jimmy's jokes or things the guests say and the bloggers respond or Retweet great content. It is a fantastic opportunity to gather people together at one time to create buzz about what you're doing.

Live-Tweeting is so exciting because with all the new scheduling tools for social platforms, rarely is a brand or organization simply online and engaging with their followers anymore. But in the case of Live-Tweeting, everyone is on at the same time, interacting with one another over a common bond. This gives you a chance to build and foster community, which is what social media is all about.

I heard a quote from Social Media Examiner's podcast that said that we've lost the social part of social media. We turned these inherently social platforms into a way for us to broadcast our own information. We're losing social media's orginial purpose - To bring people together and get them talking amongst each other.

I completely believe that statement to be true, but I also believe that live interaction on social media is our fight against it.

So this is my call to action for you: Even if you and your brand aren't a widly successful TV show, think of ways that you could engage with your followers live and then comment below to let me in on your genius ideas. ;)

And if you're racking your brain with no luck, stay tuned for a post coming soon featuring some people who are doing it already.