Interactive TV, decades after we started talking about it, is finally starting to happen. There are signs all over the place, and maybe it doesn’t look the way we hoped it would (“You ARE the Next Contestant on The Price Is Right—right there in your La-Z-Boy!”), but as I told you a few months ago, there’s live connection between what you watch on TV and what you do on the Internet.
Yesterday, NBC turned on something called Fan It. I’ve been there. I hate it. I won’t be playing the reindeer games at NBC FanIt any time soon, if ever. But lots of people will. There’s social media interaction (emphasis on “social”, “media”, and the intersection of the two). There’s mobile participation through Foursquare. There are prizes, sort of. And . . . it all proves just how desperate we’re becoming for human contact. Social Media, baby!
<Sigh>
I’ve been clear that I’m ambivalent about many aspects of social media and social networking. I think there can be too much sharing, and I struggle with the right way to handle that issue. But the one thing I know for certain about social media is that it absolutely needs to be on your radar if you’re reading this. Business Change is becoming more, and more, AND MORE about the way you interact with customers, and just plain staying on their radar. NBC and Foursquare are doing it. Signal distributors like Verizon FIOS are building interactive TV right into their service. And even if you don’t see the other side yet, you need to start moving through this tunnel.
That light you see on the other side might be a train coming at you, but stopping in your tracks isn’t the answer.
No one ever said business change was easy!
