The New York Times ran a story that asked, “Remember when the Internet was supposed to kill off television?” which brings to mind the song that accompanied the first music video ever to be played on MTV: “Video Killed the Radio Star”, which of course it didn’t. But the internet is being accused of killing radio too, along with all other existing media.
However, the title of their article tells a different story–“Water-Cooler Effect: Internet Can Be TV’s Friend”. Where people used to talk about the previous night’s or weekend’s news and happenings at work the next day, now we have Facebook and Twitter that allows us to make the conversation immediate and global, with internet speed.
The Nielsen Company, which measures television viewership and Web traffic, noticed this month that one in seven people who were watching the Super Bowl and the Olympics opening ceremony were surfing the Web at the same time.
“The Internet is our friend, not our enemy,” said Leslie Moonves, chief executive of the CBS Corporation, which broadcast both the Super Bowl and the Grammy Awards this year. “People want to be attached to each other.”
In hopes of making the most of this, NBC showed the Golden Globes live on both coasts for the first time this year, so the entire country could watch and chat online simultaneously. The network reportedly wants to do the same for the Emmy Awards this fall.
The effect is not limited to television, as you likely have already noticed. Online conversations can also help or hinder opening weekends for movies and the ratings for politicians. Recent studies of online social networks have affirmed what researchers have long recognized: people seek to be around and be influenced by like-minded individuals, it’s just that now we can find more of them outside of our immediate neighborhoods!
Tags: Internet Speed