Horizontal: Audience Communities

7.1. Horizontal: Audience Communities

The most common forms of social interaction available to media consumers are “horizontal” relationships, and involve peer-to-peer interactions between members of a program’s audience. In the context of this chapter, which focuses on the specific opportunities developed by the television industry to promote engagement with (and around) content, these relationships are facilitated and enabled primarily through the creation of online social spaces and activities. Such touchpoints result in the formation of virtual communities, which foster direct interaction between members of the audience and enable participation in a community of viewers. While the focus of any given community will be a function of the specific viewers who participate and the specific show the community is dedicated to, virtual communities allow, and encourage, several possible forms of engagement.

Some of the most common activities in television communities include (but are not limited to): • Evaluating and interpreting the show’s “text” (i.e., narrative events, characters); • Sharing emotional and creative responses to the program; • Interpreting the show (as industrial product, structured text, etc.); • Analyzing the show through critical discussion and debate; • Expressing theories, attitudes, opinions and preferences;

58 Ibid.Media Psychology. 192.

THE EXPANDED TELEVISION TEXT 89

• Proposing alternate textual ‘readings” and new possibilities; • Cultivating new relationships based upon shared passions or interests.

In his discussion of emerging online strategies used to foster audience engagement with television programming, Caldwell noted that such spaces often function as “metacritical augmentations”: spaces where viewers could “weigh in with critical analysis and dialogue on the given series.” 59

Of course, virtual communities aren’t exactly a new strategy for creating viewer engagement: online groups for discussing television programs have existed for almost as long as the Internet itself. The first

such communities appeared in Usenet groups and on dial-up Bulletin-Board Systems (BBS), beginning in the 1980s, and increased exponentially as the web became a mainstream medium. As such, there is a

tremendous amount of academic literature and research exploring the dynamics, implications and behaviors

present in these spaces. 60

In the past several years, however, a growing number of television programs have also launched their own “official” message boards and community spaces; as the Ad*VIZR New Media Audit reported, in a survey of 2,233 individual television programs, “just more than 50 percent of all the programs measured

[had] a Message Board extension,” making it “the most popular touchpoint available.” 61 And, while many viewers still prefer to participate in unbranded “independent” communities, such as Ain’t It Cool News and

Television Without Pity, the emergence of official, show-sponsored communities often encourages less net- savvy viewers to participate.

Since 2004-2005, an increasing number of shows have also attempted to attract new users by participating in social networking sites, and creating official profiles for both shows and characters at MySpace. In April 2007, NBC embraced social networking even further, announcing their intention to launch an NBC-specific social network at the beginning of June, “allowing all of our fans to connect with

59 Caldwell. 53. 60 In particular, interested readers should refer to Baym, N K. Tune In, Log On: Soaps, Fandom and Online Community. New Media

Cultures 2000. and Wilson, T. The Playful Audience: From Talk Show Viewers to Internet Users. 2004.. 61 Ad*VIZR™ Ne w Media Aud i t 2006/07.

90 CHAPTER 2

each other and interact with our shows in exciting new ways.” 62 Given the rapid proliferation of social networking sites, however, it is possible that NBC’s move to launch their own branded social network will

backfire: if the effort required for viewers to participate in an additional social network outweighs the benefits of participation, it is entirely possible that they will opt out, forcing television marketers to continue reaching

them in more “public” forums like MySpace and Facebook.

It is also important to recognize that virtual communities, which serve as sites for the production of what Fiske referred to as “tertiary textuality,” are increasingly used to generate a high volume of content that a

program’s audience can access, at very little cost. As these social spaces become a strategic component in promoting television franchises, rather than autonomous sites for fan interaction, they migrate — as Caldwell

has suggested — from tertiary texts toward a new status as related primary texts.