mtv

During the past year we’ve seen multiple attempts by broadcast networks to integrate social media into television programming. You may recall ABC’s promotion of an app that provided broadcast viewers with synchronized interactive content for My Generation. Glee, which airs on Fox, also tried to extend the viewer experience from television to the Internet by integrating QR codes into commercials. Most recently, MTV and VH1 announced their partnership with Foursquare to bring in social gaming across television, online and mobile entertainment for a “heightened fan-experience.”

Double Feature

Looking at recent viewer usage statistics, it is clear that there’s good reason for this shift…

1. If you’re like most Americans, you spend on average 2.8 hours of television per day watching shows and consuming nearly 4.5 hours of video on YouTube as well as 3.1 hours of content on Hulu per month.

2. Odds are that you also own multiple devices that afford you access to video and can help to deepen your engagement with a particular show.

In fact, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, “Many devices have become popular across generations, with a majority of adults now owning cell phones, laptops and desktop computers. Younger adults are leading the way in increased mobility, preferring laptops to desktops and using their cell phones for a variety of functions, including internet, email, music, games and video.”

“We recognize that our audiences are no longer just sitting on the couch watching our programming,” said Kristin Frank, general manager and senior vice president of MTV and VH1 Digital, New York. “We know that they increasingly have a laptop and a mobile device with them while they watch and are consistently multitasking in their lives."

Time to Change the Channel?

I am left wondering where this shift will take us. After all, our society loves to not only consume content, but also to actively engage and participate in the creation of that content.

This wholesale change in how we not only consume, but also create media hit home for me when I attended a session called “Taking Videos Beyond YouTube” at the recent Nonprofit Technology Conference. There, Ben Moskowitz of the Mozilla Foundation cautioned, “You can’t be the only provider of your media” in today’s multi-media and multi-platform world. Likewise, as a consumer you cannot be expected to view all media from just one provider when so many choices exist and are readily accessible.

Pass the Popcorn

Taking the next step, Mozilla created an innovative new platform—Popcornjs.org, which takes integration of broadcast and social media to the next level. Designed to seamlessly integrate online content into videos, video creators can now enhance their creations with Wikipedia pages, Google earth maps, Flickr photo streams, Twitter feeds, etc. making for a much more integrated and active experience. While currently in beta format, the platform is vying to change overall engagement.

The possibilities are literally endless when it comes to the synchronization of video and web content in this virtual “Choose Your Own Adventure” for videos. The tool is not just for entertainment purposes either, when it comes to creating compelling content this medium will no doubt be an effective tool for social change advocates.

What do you think... how might you use a tool such as Popcorn? How do you think the increasing integration of online content into more traditional forms of media will change how we consume information?

Today MTV launched Act.MTV.com. The pro-social website seeks to engage its readers on many different levels by using unexpected approaches that resonate with the younger generation. MTV believes that “every action counts,” and hopes that Act will help motivate its audience to take action around the issues that matter to them. The question on everyone's mind will be whether or not MTV’s audience will be able to move from shows such as Jersey Shore to taking action in defense of animals losing their habitats?

The website will cover many different issues, including: digital health, jobs, social innovation, sexual abuse and education, just to name a few. Visiting the site you will find stories on everything from pop culture’s intersection with the pro-social and “how-to” columns focused on topics such as recycling, voting, volunteering and petitions; to “day in the life” style pieces focused on a young nonprofit leader and the work that they are doing. Being MTV of course, the creators are also developing connections to music, such as creating video playlists for issues.

Act.MTV.com hopes to spark action among youth by fulfilling three key roles:

• Digital Presence:  Promote simple and quick ways for people to get involved with social issues that are relevant to its audience.

• Stories:  Celebrate the stories of young people, celebrities and nonprofits that are making an impact on pressing social issues. As master storytellers, MTV is in a unique position to share personal and provocative stories with its audience like no other.

• Matchmaker:  Connect those who may be disengaged with the organizations, people and tools that they need to help them take action.

With integration of the site across multiple MTV platforms, including: MTV news, mobile, events, consumer products, and the social web, I believe Act.MTV.com’s messages will have a pretty good chance of getting to the right people. According to Act’s creators, they want the site to be, “informative without being preachy, and integrate humor and creativity where possible… when we do critique, we focus on solutions, not the problem.”

Think Again?

This is not MTV’s first foray into the online activism space. MTV launched a website called Think.MTV.com in 1997 that according to Reuters, was “designed to be a resource for social and political issues, aiming to inform as well as let users connect with other like-minded people on issues from the environment to sexual health and discrimination.” Several foundations helped MTV develop this site, including the Case Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Goldhirsh Foundation and MCJ Amelior Foundation. The site is still live, but with the launch of Act.MTV.com it appears that MTV is trying a new approach to engaging its audience—and if all goes well an entire generation.

Lesson Learned

MTV debuted in 1981 and in those formative years was a very different beast than today’s MTV—as are its viewers. In particular, MTV’s hold on, and influence of, the younger audience has appeared to wane at times as audiences changed. MTV Networks chief executive, Judy McGrath was quoted in a recent New York Times piece as saying that MTV “should be the ‘forever young network,’ [but] had clung to Generation X a little too long, some believed, at the expense of the Millennials.”

It is clear that MTV is actively reinventing itself to better reach Millennials. Through MTV’s research about the Millennial generation, MTV spokespeople noted that “teenagers and twentysomethings nowadays were less rebellious than those in the past. They are not rebelling against their parents so much as they are watching TV with their parents.” With research in hand, MTV is keen on reworking itself, including its shows, and from the look of it, Act.MTV.com.

The Right Place, Right Time?

I think MTV is on to something here and that there is great potential for Act to really resonate with younger generations. The site is fresh, engaging and does what it sets out to do... all while keeping things somewhat entertaining, light and maintaining the fundamental essence of MTV.

Have you visited the site? What do you think of Act?  Is Act's belief that "every action counts" valid?  Is there value in promoting small acts of good, or is this just a way to placate Millennials and the younger generation?

MTV launched Act.MTV.com today. The pro-social website seeks to engage its readers on many different levels by using unexpected approaches that resonate with the younger generation. MTV believes that “every action counts,” and hopes that Act will help motivate its audience to take action around the issues that matter to them. 

The website will cover many different issues, including: digital health, jobs, social innovation, sexual abuse and education, just to name a few. Visiting the site you will find stories on everything from pop culture’s intersection with the pro-social and “how-to” columns focused on topics such as recycling, voting, volunteering and petitions; to “day in the life” style pieces focused on a young nonprofit leader and the work that they are doing. Being MTV of course, the creators are also developing connections to music, such as creating video playlists for issues.

Act.MTV.com hopes to spark action among youth by fulfilling three key roles:

• Digital Presence:  Promote simple and quick ways for people to get involved with social issues that are relevant to its audience.

• Stories:  Celebrate the stories of young people, celebrities and nonprofits that are making an impact on pressing social issues. As master storytellers, MTV is in a unique position to share personal and provocative stories with its audience like no other.

• Matchmaker:  Connect those who may be disengaged with the organizations, people and tools that they need to help them take action.

With integration of the site across multiple MTV platforms, including: MTV news, mobile, events, consumer products, and the social web, I believe Act.MTV.com’s messages will have a pretty good chance of getting to the right people. According to Act’s creators, they want the site to be, “informative without being preachy, and integrate humor and creativity where possible… when we do critique, we focus on solutions, not the problem.”

Think Again?

This is not MTV’s first foray into the online activism space. MTV launched a website called Think.MTV.com in 1997 that according to Reuters, was “designed to be a resource for social and political issues, aiming to inform as well as let users connect with other like-minded people on issues from the environment to sexual health and discrimination.” Several foundations helped MTV develop this site, including the Case Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Goldhirsh Foundation and MCJ Amelior Foundation. The site is still live, but with the launch of Act.MTV.com it appears that MTV is trying a new approach to engaging its audience—and if all goes well an entire generation.

Time to Move On?

Looking at the bigger picture, MTV debuted in 1981 and in those formative years was a very different beast than today’s MTV—as are its viewers. In particular, MTV’s hold on, and influence of, the younger audience has appeared to slip. MTV Networks chief executive, Judy McGrath was quoted in a recent New York Times piece as saying that MTV “should be the ‘forever young network,’ [but] had clung to Generation X a little too long, some believed, at the expense of the Millennials.”

Lesson learned. MTV has been actively reinventing itself to better reach Millennials. Through MTV’s research about the Millennial generation, MTV spokespeople noted that “teenagers and twentysomethings nowadays were less rebellious than those in the past. They are not rebelling against their parents so much as they are watching TV with their parents.” With research in hand, MTV is keen on reworking itself, including its shows, and from the look of it, Act.MTV.com.

The Right Place, Right Time?

I think MTV is on to something here and that there is great potential for Act to really resonate with younger generations. The site is fresh, engaging and does what it sets out to do, all while keeping things somewhat entertaining, light and maintaining the fundamental essence of MTV.

Have you visited the site? What do you think of Act? Do you think MTV’s audience will be able to move from shows such as Jersey Shore to taking action in defense of animals losing their habitat? Is there value in promoting small acts of good, or is this just a way to placate Millennials and the younger generation? Is Act's belief that "every action counts" valid?

Fact: In four out of the past five presidential campaigns, Nickelodeon viewers have correctly chosen the President of the United States in their “Kids Pick the Prez” online poll. With a record-setting number of votes cast this year, Senator Obama received 51 percent of the vote while Senator McCain came in at 49 percent.

Why does this matter? Because young people are influencing this election in unprecedented ways -- and this group isn't even old enough to vote! Imagine, then, the significance of such participation among young voters who CAN pull the lever come election day.

Indeed, perhaps it’s a combination of keen interest among young people and campaigns who are utilizing the kinds of electronic tools familiar to today's youth that has political pundits and pollsters alike preparing for a historic turnout of young voters. The old notion that young people are impossible to reach because they don’t have landlines, don’t show up on mailing lists, and just don’t care is soooo 2004.