• by Lydia Loizides , Op-Ed Contributor, November 20, 2008

Social media. Community. Tagging. Commenting. All these are the buzz words associated with the application of social media to content. But does it matter in the TV world -- materially, that is? Maybe, but I am not convinced.

Now don't get me wrong, I am usually the first to say that watching television is a social experience -- but is that "sociability" present while watching television online? I am not convinced. And yes, yes, I know people use the commenting features and the tagging features -- but are they the average? The norm?

Maybe. What I do believe in, though, is the interactivity between television programming and a community of people when it is conceived of and programmed from the start. Take for example the amazing "Hack The Debate" that Current TV televised Sept. 26 around the Live Presidential Debate between Obama and McCain. This was live programming people, LIVE, overlayed with Twitter messages from the community at large, meta tags in REAL TIME.

What was amazing was that it tapped the social aspects of watching television programming in a virtual sense across 2 platforms using the simple art of real-time communication.

So while I think that comments, tagging and social interaction around watching television online is interesting; the real "aha" moment is when you can bring it all back to the good ol' television screen.