出版社：Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, University of Wales
摘要：The growth and widespread use of social media is altering the viewing experience for some television audiences quite considerably. Viewers are increasingly integrating social platforms such as Twitter and Facebook into their TV-watching experience to collectively discuss programmes and live TV events as they happen. In sum, viewers are watching television with their laptops or mobile devices at hand, seemingly in an effort to transform their experience into a social, or community event (Makice, 2009). This paper will examine this growing intersecting media landscape of television and social media, considering the consequences of increased audience involvement within this convergence. Analysing the Twitter-led engagement of viewers of Channel 4’s 2011 Street Riots: The Live Debate, this study illustrates how Twitter is being used by television audiences and networks surrounding the live broadcast of a programme. I show how the viewing audience uses Twitter to express their views on issues within the debate and also on the show itself, the importance of “liveness” (Auslander 2008) and the extended tweeting audience, and how information and knowledge is circulated, in form of “collective intelligence” (Lévy, 1997). I argue that we can see these processes resulting in a change in viewership for many individuals, subsequently influencing the ways in which audience and programmes engage with each other.
关键词：convergence; engagement; social media; television audiences; Twitter
