Watching People Watching TV
Good article from the Economist about the realities of TV consumption:
In surveys [people] almost always underestimate how much television they watch, and greatly overstate the extent to which they watch video in any other form. In particular, they underestimate their consumption of live television. One of Ms Pearson’s subjects, a 27-year-old man, claimed to watch recorded television 90% of the time. In fact he watched live TV 69% of the time. He was probably not so much fibbing as misinterpreting the question. When asked how he watched television, he gave an answer that described his behaviour when he was alone, and thus did not have to compromise. But most of the time he watched with other people.
The article also points out how many “disruptive” TV ideas have missed a basic premise of how we consume: With other people. I can’t help but feel like the current wave of “social TV” applications that aim to allow me to connect with my friends while watching shows will suffer the same fate. The reality of the situation is that the vast majority of my TV time is already spent consuming it socially with the person sitting next to me on the couch.
Hi, I'm 
Social Media Is Only Social If You’re Alone.
That’s something a lot of advocates tend to forget – people would rather talk to whoever is in the room with them, than to Twitter. And if they are using social media, they’re ignoring the person sitting next to them on the couch.
Also – sporting events, presidential inaugurations, award shows– things with lots of down time- are great for being social. Not sure I want to talk to anybody – live or online – during an episode of Lost.
Hey Noah,
I agree that the best way to consume TV is to do so sitting next to someone.
That said there’s no ignoring the fact that the trend is moving towards time-shifted consumption. When I look at social tv tools such as Boxee or Tunerfish currently offered, I see their development through the lens of supporting or opposing that trend.
Couple time-shifting with the fact that we are more spread out geographically than ever before, and I think there’s a good argument for places online where one can recreate that setting, albeit less intense compared to the physical act of sitting ’round the tube.
Check out my project’s blog to see what and why we’re addressing this. http://kickfour.com/blog/
Andy