360DigitalInfluence

Outside of the Yankees during playoff season,  I find nothing incites my competitive juices like reality television. I’ve been in an American Idol fantasy draft, I’m on the edge of my seat for The Amazing Race, and I’m still bitter over Boston Rob’s early exit on the most recent season of Survivor.  However, minute for minute, no program compares to So You Think You Can Dance simply for the way it combines artistry, entertainment, athleticism, public judging, and public voting.

This season’s So You Think You Can Dance introduced a number of changes in format including: the return of past contestants as partners, a reduction in the number of contestants, and the elimination of the loudest (but most joyful) judge, Mary Murphy.  On top of all of the changes, Alex Wong, arguably the most talented contestant to ever appear on the show, sustained an injury and was eliminated early — arguably the greatest tragedy to ever occur in reality television history.  My own dejection over Alex’s injury was briefly alleviated when I saw Ellen DeGeneres tweet that she was going to “do something special for Alex.”  Unfortunately, Ellen’s gift was not a miracle that would heal Alex so he could dance again as I’d hoped, but it did, however, make me think about social media’s effect on SYTYCD this season and how it’s changed the viewing experience.

From a social media perspective, live reality shows like Idol, Dancing with the Stars, and SYTYCD introduce new challenges and opportunities to their producers and marketers. Allowing contestants to use their social media platforms during the actual competition can offer contestants the opportunity to engage with and thank their fans, give those who may have a pre-existing fan base an edge in self-promotion, and potentially provide early indications of who’s going home before major networks (and their advertisers) are ready. Obsessive Idol fans have known for several seasons that DialIdol.com will measure intervals of busy signals and provide early (and fairly accurate) predictions of Idol winners but that site is far from mainstream.  Individual Twitter handles that clearly display follower counts suggests that the contestant with 50,000 fans will probably have more staying power than one with 500.

Contestants on Social Media

Early on, 2010 appeared to be the year of defined social media policies for televised competitions as both Idol and the Winter Olympics had defined policies for their competitors. American Idol, which airs on the same network and hails from the same producers as SYTYCD, created new social media presences on Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace for its entire Top 24 this season. However, these presences were only maintained during the show leaving an amassed following in the lurch.  During the Winter Olympics (or as non-skiing fans call it: “primetime off-season”), Olympians had to follow blogging guidelines that allowed them to tweet during competition, but only if they did so in the first person.

This year, SYTYCD banned contestants from tweeting from their own handles while still in competition and asked all of them to tweet from @SYTYCD7, marked each tweet with the contestant saying it, and linked them all back to the Season 7 Facebook page.  This handle served purely as a means of pushing Facebook content and showed no signs of responding to fans, meaning that Twitter fans of the show had no opportunity for personal engagement.

Judges on Social Media

While SYTYCD contestants were not able to use their past Twitter channels, the judges (and ex-judges) continued to tweet and interact with fans throughout the season typically providing post-show thoughts and genuinely promoting the work.  Some used it to launch their own campaigns.  For example, ex-judge, Mary Murphy, used Twitter to tell fans who wanted her back on the show to tweet at the show’s head judge and producer, Nigel, and make the request.

While all the tweets may not have been the cause, Mary was back at the judges’ table for the finale and Twitter may have provided the tipping point!

Fans on Social Media

Reality tv fans’ use of social media is an extensive topic for another day, but it’s worth noting that Ellen DeGeneres is just one of many tweeting fans. In the last week alone, more than 45,000 tweets were sent about the show and Twitter as a platform made up more than 77% of the social media conversation about the show — all this during what was once considered a dead season for new television.

As we head into the fall season, I will be almost as interested in seeing how other live competition shows employ or restrict social media usage as I will be in following Alex Wong’s future career.

Photo credit: Mathieu Young/FOX