Social media boosts award show ratings -- what else could this mean?

According to AdAge, social media sites, mainly Twitter, are helping award shows get back on their feet. Live events like the Oscars and the Grammys had been on a steady decline from 2004 to 2008 according to the article. But trending topics on Twitter help audiences get involved in the shows and probably give them more of a reason to watch. That's not entirely surprising, because it seems popular (at least among my generation) to watch t.v. while playing around on the computer (mainly social networking) at the same time. So micro-blogging about what outrageous thing Kanye West does next is a natural extension.

But what's interesting to me is the implications this has on the reputation of social networking for advertisers and their clients. Last semester I wrote a research paper and conducted interviews with industry professionals on the rise of digital media and its integration into IMC campaigns. What I found was that agencies and corporations know digital is where the industry is heading, but they don't trust the medium and its seemingly uncontrollable messages. Compounding the problem is the difficulty firms have in equating social media activity to sales figures. Could social media's boost to award shows mean advertisers will trust social networking more?

It's hard to say, because trending topics on Twitter are still hard to quantify in actual dollars. Sure, if more people are watching the shows then they are more likely to watch the commercials. But I don't know if even that is necessarily true anymore. I mean, when do you think people are tweeting?

Regardless, I think this can only mean good things for social networking and its relationship with advertisers. The more companies start to utilize these sites as legitimate means of communication with consumers the better.

Twitter Auto-Refresh: There's an App for That

So you're a tweeter. Something big is happening, and you've got your finger on the pulse of the twitt-o-sphere, watching the screen, waiting for the live updates they are so famous for. But what's that? You have to refresh your browser? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of real time, if you aren't getting a post until five seconds, or worse - five minutes, after it is posted? It's likely if you wait that long, most of your friends will already know what happened, and you'll be woefully behind.

Not to fret tweety, there's an app for that. Like everything else in the digital space, there are tons of options and it can be quite overwhelming. Here's where I recommend you start:

1.) Twitter Gadget: This one is mainly helpful for my fellow Google loyals. This allows you to post and monitor your Twitter directly from your Google profile or homepage. So you can monitor your Twitter while reading your RSS feeds, checking email from your mom, and planning your wardrobe around the weather. That cuts down the waiting like, triple-fold. Sweet.

2.) Twit Zap: Unlike Twitter Gadget, Twit Zap is an application right in your Twitter feed. Not only does it give you those auto-refreshes you've always wanted, but it claims to do so much more. So if you're plagued with all sorts of Twitter woes, this one's for you. Here's what else it can do (in case you don't want to read through their whole description):

* Real time update of twitter timeline
* Easy search
* Easily @Reply, DM and RT interesting tweets
* Group and follow only those users whom you are particularly interested in
* StockTwits feed
* Shorten URL
* Share files on twitter
* Keep track of tweets that you have already read

3.) SplitTweet: This is really for more advanced tweeters. If you are struggling to manage multiple Twitter accounts, one for every personality, then this is what you'll want to check out. This takes all your accounts and puts them in one easy interface. If you're interested in this one, and working in a Firefox browser, I would suggest you install the Firefox add-on so that you can automatically refresh not only your Twitter feeds but all your favorite Web sites. Double cool.

Now that you have the helpful tips to stay on top of your Twitter game, check out their customer feed to submit your own suggestions to Twitter. I guess they really are serious about caring about what you have to say. That's pretty awesome...as long as they really reply. Is it as good as they make it seem? Do they really heed your suggestions? I'd be curious to know...

Thanks to Loungerie for the photo above.