The Multi-Screened Future
Earlier today, I posted a picture on my Instagram of me watching Toy Story 3 (one of my all-time favourite films) with my dog and when looking back at the picture (as a result of notifications telling me people had liked it) I noticed that my Mac was on my lap and that I was scrolling through my Twitter feed as well as having Football Manager open. This got me thinking about the last time I genuinely sat down to watch something without getting my phone out to Tweet about it, or having my laptop on my lap to play Football Manager during the more quiet moments of a show. Apart from late at night when I watch TV purely to tire my eyes, I cannot think of the last time I sat and watched a whole TV Show of Film throughout without wanting to post a picture of what I’m watching or wanting to Tweet about how I feel about a certain circumstance within said TV Show of Film.
This made me realise that I part of the future generation that will grow up using multiple displays and multi-tasking on multiple websites whilst watching a TV Show of Film. If it’s to Tweet about the show, post a picture about the show or the situation you’re in or to simply have something else to do during the more dull parts of the show (adverts) or Film (adverts or any scenes that don’t include explosions), it just seems more fun to have a second screen with you.
Some mobile applications are taking FULL advantage of this with streaming interactions with the TV Shows and Films that you’re watching. Obviously Twitter is an application that goes hand-in-hand with a television set as it allows you to see what shows are being watched, who’s being talked about or what people's feelings are about things through trending topics. For example, when X Factor is on, you can essentially find out who will win, who people think is the joke act and which judge is the one to be love/slaughtered that week. Twitter will always be there to aid you when it comes to wanting to know what’s going on within your friends and those you follow (their Tweets) and within the whole world too (trends).
Twitter’s recent acquisition of the TV analytics company Bluefin shows their desire to become the ultimate second screen tool. Bluefin uses a term they call “deep machine learning” to track the references of otherwise obscure comments such as “great pass” or “quality goal” on Social Media. Twitter’s acquisition of Bluefin means that Bluefin solely looks through Tweets for these obscure comments now. Bluefin says that 95 per cent of real-time digital engagement with TV happen on Twitter. With this new partnership, Twitter can now become a place for advertisers to advertise their space as they can see when most people, what shows are the most-watched and take advantage of these statistics.
Zeebox is in my opinion, the ultimate second screen tool for television. Zeebox at its most basic is a simple TV Guide that shows you what shows are on and when. However, Zeebox incorporates Twitter to show you which shows are being most Tweeted about and most watched (via their check-in type feature.) This first off, shows you which shows are being watched, which shows are being most talked about, you can also check which shows people plan on watching (via their book feature.) Another social feature that Zeebox has is that when you click on a show, you can Tweet about it or post about it on Zeebox and then you can view Tweets about the show as well.
Now, the thing about Zeebox that, in my opinion, makes it next-generation is the ‘Live Zeetags’. Live Zeetags are tags that are mentioned throughout the show that you are watching; how on Earth the company have these blows my mind as it even works with live shows. Basically, if Family Guy is on and a celebrity is mentioned whose name you’ve never heard of before, you can open the app, view the Live Zeetags and choose the celebrities name and it’ll show you their Wikipedia page. Obviously, it doesn’t show every single word that the show says, but it picks out the obvious words that they have information on. For me, this feature means you can be watching a show and be truly benefiting from having a second display also. I would highly recommend downloading the Zeebox application (links below) for your Android or iOS device, or checking out their website at zeebox.com to get a similar experience.
These two applications or services are the reason I feel that the second screen is truly upon us and that future generations will have a single place to go to find out what their friends are watching, which types of TV brings in the biggest audiences, who is watching what and many more advantageous options.
What do you think is the best second screen: Tablet, phone or laptop? Are you someone who finds yourself using two displays?
Download Zeebox UK Here (Play Store)
Download Zeebox US Here (Play Store)
Download Zeebox UK Here (App Store)
Download Zeebox US Here (App Store)
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