Thursday, October 15, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Not Quite TV
Hulu is a fantastic place. Despite it's limitations, Hulu is significant because of the paradigm shift it represents for mass media content creators. Unlike the music industry that told-the-teacher-style panicked when bandwidth and technology broke the barrier to entry for consumer and creator alike earlier in the decade, television execs have embraced the inevitible irrelevancy of their past business model.
To me, Hulu is poised to serve multiple purposes:
1. Promotion - The site gets the word out about a show in the best way possible: allowing viewers to watch the program.
2. Word of Mouth/Social Networking - Hulu allows viewers to watch shows recommended by friends whether over dinner conversation or from a link from their facebook page. This is a huge plus for the networks. Under the traditional TV model, viewers would have to start watching shows at the next new episode, which may eliminate some people because they can't start at the beginning. On Demand is available now too but Hulu has more options.
3. DVD Sales - My favorite implication of Hulu is the acceptance of giving content away for free now does not mean sacrificing dollars later. For example, if I like 30 Rock enough to watch it on Hulu, I may plunk down $25 for DVD set for myself or as a Christmas gift for someone. This line of thinking relies on one major assumption by studios and networks...
Watching TV on your computer will never replace watching TV on the big, HD flatscreen in your living room.
And I agree with them...until Microsoft integrates a Hulu module on my XBox 360. All bets are off when that happens.
To me, Hulu is poised to serve multiple purposes:
1. Promotion - The site gets the word out about a show in the best way possible: allowing viewers to watch the program.
2. Word of Mouth/Social Networking - Hulu allows viewers to watch shows recommended by friends whether over dinner conversation or from a link from their facebook page. This is a huge plus for the networks. Under the traditional TV model, viewers would have to start watching shows at the next new episode, which may eliminate some people because they can't start at the beginning. On Demand is available now too but Hulu has more options.
3. DVD Sales - My favorite implication of Hulu is the acceptance of giving content away for free now does not mean sacrificing dollars later. For example, if I like 30 Rock enough to watch it on Hulu, I may plunk down $25 for DVD set for myself or as a Christmas gift for someone. This line of thinking relies on one major assumption by studios and networks...
Watching TV on your computer will never replace watching TV on the big, HD flatscreen in your living room.
And I agree with them...until Microsoft integrates a Hulu module on my XBox 360. All bets are off when that happens.
Tweet Search
The Twitter Search function might be the most powerful tool for companies to use. Twitter is simply a worldwide conversation that anybody can eavesdrop on. With the search function, you can hone the eavesdropping to specific topics. It's like listening to conversations in a crowded room with the Whisper2000 if you already knew who was talking about you.
By using the advanced search, interested parties can define the specific parameters to search for a topic among the mass of tweets. The problem is mining the data (isn't that always the problem). The search results are sporadic, lack context and are, likely, high in volume. Analyzing the tweets and exacting the right conclusions is where the real work occurs.
For large brands or specific products, I think the searches might produce easier-to-interpret data. The individual tweets might reflect obvious reactions to a product or be recommendations from one user to another. Conversely, the comments may be negative towards the brand or product. Either way, the conversation should be easily analyzed for data purposes. When these comments are observed during a long period of time, tides of user/public opinion can be discerned, which will prove valuable to companies.
For concepts that lack brand recognition, Twitter search data is more elusive but still functional. I searched the name of my web comic during the default amount of time set by the service. I searched with and without quotation marks for Registered Weapon. Like any search engine, the results without quotation marks were more numerous but mostly off-topic (still fascinating though). You can see my results below with quotation marks:
By using the advanced search, interested parties can define the specific parameters to search for a topic among the mass of tweets. The problem is mining the data (isn't that always the problem). The search results are sporadic, lack context and are, likely, high in volume. Analyzing the tweets and exacting the right conclusions is where the real work occurs.
For large brands or specific products, I think the searches might produce easier-to-interpret data. The individual tweets might reflect obvious reactions to a product or be recommendations from one user to another. Conversely, the comments may be negative towards the brand or product. Either way, the conversation should be easily analyzed for data purposes. When these comments are observed during a long period of time, tides of user/public opinion can be discerned, which will prove valuable to companies.
For concepts that lack brand recognition, Twitter search data is more elusive but still functional. I searched the name of my web comic during the default amount of time set by the service. I searched with and without quotation marks for Registered Weapon. Like any search engine, the results without quotation marks were more numerous but mostly off-topic (still fascinating though). You can see my results below with quotation marks:
Three results. Two tweets were relevant. One was not.
There's not much data to analysis needed to draw a few specific conclusions:
1. the search works for finding relevant tweets.
2. Nobody is talking about Registered Weapon today.
I'll search again tomorrow.
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