When asked to choose a favorite show that uses social media I had several to choose from, but my choice came down to Face Off, the special effects make-up reality show.  Before I get into how Face Off utilizes social media let me explain why this show trumps many of the other reality shows out there.  In a format first used by Survivor, reality shows will often pit contestants against each other in a series of competitions. The contestants are encouraged to form alliances with others to eliminate the competition then in an underhanded move, turn on their allies and throw them under the bus.  The main goal of Survivor is winning by subterfuge.  A person behaves in an untrustworthy manipulative manner and they are rewarded for playing the game successfully.  I just can’t see why we would want to reinforce that sort of behavior, but it’s a money maker so I also see why the studios love it.  Now with Face Off the set up is different, it rewards the contestants based on their talent.  Even with this the players could use mental games to unnerve the others and put them off their game, but they don’t. Most them are friendly, cooperative and seem to genuinely like each other. After all, if the participants want to work in a studio setting they need to play well with others. This positive behavior has been exhibited time and again on the show with examples being of one participant asking the opinion of another and actually getting a helpful advice or a player asking for help removing a cast from its mold and the others will stop and go to help.  One episode had a participant crush his fingers which necessitated a trip to the E.R., the others finished cleaning out his mold so he could get straight to work when he returned the next day.  They gained nothing from the judges for this action it was just the right thing to do.

Since Face Off is a competition you would think it relies on social media to help pick a winner, but any opinion the viewers provide does not matter since the judges are the ones who make the final decision, but it does use Twitter to make the viewers a part of the show.  The show does something different with the comments sent in by viewers. Instead of using them as pop-ups during the first viewing, as other shows will do, they save the tweets and use them as pop-ups during the second showing later that night.  A fan will certainly tune in just to see if his or her tweet was used during the show.  By playing to the ego of the viewer it is possible Face Off gets equal viewers to a second showing as they did the first, unfortunately I could not find ratings to prove this it’s just an assumption. Beginning with the July season premiere a new Twitter campaign will allow fans to vote for their favorite contestant and the winner will receive a cash reward.  This interaction gives the viewer the power to reward their favorites when the judges fail to do so.

Social media and television seems like a match made in heaven.  How often have you discussed with your friends about what happened in last night’s episode and speculated of what will happen next?  Too often in my world, I must admit, and with social media your friend base has now expanded to 1 million other viewers.  Using social media to engage viewers is brilliant and gives them a feeling of being more important than just viewer ratings, it makes it personal.

Hello Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea.

The radio; a seemingly simple machine could be found in just about every home in America over the last 9 decades.  One would not think a radio could have such a profound effect up on a nation, I’m mean it’s just a box that makes noise, right?  In a sense yes, yes it is, and while it may have started out small with a few simple bible verses sent over the airwaves soon it would be a force that would tie communities and a nation together.

Back before the days of radio families would entertain themselves through books, games, or songs played on the piano, if one was lucky enough to have one. Maybe one would go into town to see a play or hear new music, but what of those who didn’t live near a big city? The radio was the item that brought culture into their homes.  A family could listen to dramatic or comedic broadcasts with the house band providing musical breaks and commercials were aired to tell the people what they needed to buy.  The programs were aired at certain times so you could assume everyone in your community was listening at the same time you were; there was a sense of belonging.  The entire nation was notified at once when news stories broke about what was going on in the war or if there was a speech from the president; you were tied to your fellow man through this shared modem of communication.

When TV entered into the mainstream many of the variety shows that aired had their basis in a formula used in the radio shows: the host introduced the stars, a skit was performed, a musical group was brought on and most certainly commercials were aired, usually by one show sponsor; Chock Full o’ Nuts anyone?  This formula is stilled used today for many of the nighttime programs like “The Tonight Show.”  

TV is a powerful competitor for radio, but radio continues to survive by providing non-stop entertainment, news, sports broadcasts and as mentioned in the article, “Radio Sports Talk and the Fantasies of Sports” it continues to tie a community together and give it a shared voice, a feeling of being part of something bigger.