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NBC’s Social Media Application Holds Potential to Reinvent TV Metrics

What originated as a simple concept to connect friends – new and old – family and even strangers through common interests as well as opposing views is rapidly popping up in new places all over the web, almost daily. That’s right, social media is making extreme headway in cyberspace.

From the pioneer websites like Facebook and MySpace to the newbie pages of Google Buzz and Foursquare, today, social media has evolved into much more than an interactive tool of social networking.

Television network, NBC, recognized the unequivocal popularity of social media and, therefore, launched a networking platform last Monday. Fan It – an interactive, network loyalty program – combines myNBC (NBC’s online community for fans), Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Foursquare to provide a fully-loaded networking experience for users.

“The endeavor is a network-wide initiative designed to leverage the presence of show fans on social networks and incentivize them with points for engaging with content – i.e. watching videos on NBC.com, Liking shows, chatting and recruiting friends,” reported Mashable.com.

Although Fan It has only set course on its journey as a social media network, it carries the potential to inaugurate monumental changes within the television rating system, which has remained relatively unchanged since 1950. By measuring and analyzing data from social networks, the metrics of television could, one day, undergo a revolutionary transformation in gauging audience engagement. 

Although for now, social-media fans are invited to explore and enjoy Fan It simply to partake in its intended purpose: to promote discussion about NBC shows. Not convinced? The program additionally provides incentives by rewarding users with points that can be redeemed for NBC merchandise, show previews, virtual goods, badges and sweepstakes entries. Check it out!