The Social TV Revolution Isn't Here Yet

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Image: Mashable composite

By Seth Fiegerman2014-04-10 15:05:09 UTC

Twitter mentioned the word "television" more than 40 times in the paperwork it filed to go public last year, and for good reason. The social network has doubled down on product updates and acquisitions to ensure that it becomes the second screen for TV viewers.

Likewise, Facebook has tried to take a page from Twitter's playbook and partnered with a social TV analytics group — one that Twitter later acquired — to show off how its massive user base engages with and discusses television shows.

See also: Twitter Fights For Mainstream Adoption With Facebook-ish Updates

Both social networks are vying for a piece of the lucrative TV ad budgets, but as one new survey shows, Twitter and Facebook still have a long way to go to become part of the mainstream TV consumption experience.

Some 16% of online Americans currently use social media while watching primetime TV, according to a survey of nearly 1,665 individuals for the Council for Research Excellence conducted by Nielsen. Yet only 7.3% of primetime viewers actually use social media to talk about the TV show they are watching at that moment.

Despite making a later push into social TV, Facebook performs slightly better on this front. Some 3.8% of primetime viewers in the study used Facebook to talk about the show they were watching at that moment compared to just 1.8% for Twitter.

The study found that those who engage on social media about the shows they're watching tend to be more likely to binge watch programs and consume TV shows on tablets and smartphones. On the whole, though, the takeaway is that social media is far down on the list of factors driving viewers to watch new shows.

Commercials and traditional promos were the top factor with nearly 40% of those surveyed saying this led them to watch a new show. By comparison, just 6.8% of respondents cited social media, making it less effective in the eyes of viewers than "I flipped channels and came across it."

As Beth Rockwood, SVP of market resources at Discovery Communications and chair of the CRE’s Social Media Committee, told the New York Times : “Social media did have an impact on viewing choice, but it was still relatively small compared to traditional promotion.”

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Topics: Business, Facebook, Media, Social TV, Twitter