Fear not, web-savvy celebrities, your quotidian Tweets are safe – for now.
A ‘Twitter TV’ show was announced yesterday, and reports suggested that the popular micro-blogging platform would be teaming up with Reveille Productions to follow celebrity tweets.
This concerned many in the entertainment industry – or at least those who know what Twitter actually is, like Twitter-obsessed Ashton Kutcher and his wife, Demi Moore. “Connecting directly with people is different than being exploited by others,” tweeted Demi. “We have nothing to do with a Twitter tv show and definitely not one like this article described!”
But it looks like reports may have been too hasty and the celebs might have to eat their protest tweets. Twitter co-founder and Creative Director, Biz Stone, is now going on the record to say there is “no official Twitter TV show,” or at least nothing that his company directly has a hand in. However, he suggests that the company is exploring how they might possibly make television more “interactive.
Somewhere, out there, Ashton is tweeting a sigh of relief.
The web is abuzz today with talk of a “Twitter TV show.” I’m even getting folks asking me if they can audition. Indeed, there are a lot of interesting developments happening in the television space—MTV, G4, CNN, E! and various independent production companies are all leveraging Twitter for fun new projects. There are probably a bunch we don’t even know about yet.
Is There An Official Twitter Show?
There is no official Twitter TV show—although if there were it would be fun to cast! In dealing with networks and production companies we sometimes have simple agreements. Regarding the Reveille and Brillstein project reported today, we have a lightweight, non-exclusive, agreement with the producers which helps them move forward more freely.
Our Openness Is Extensive
Twitter is very open. As a result, thousands of different applications, web sites, and mobile interfaces have been created by developers. These different approaches add variety and relevance to Twitter and in general make the ecosystem more interesting. However, Twitter’s openness is not limited to the web or even to mobile phones.
During the 2008 presidential elections, Hack The Debate showed us how Twitter could make television interactive and possibly even have a democratizing effect on the medium. The power of Twitter was harnessed to create new, compelling, and engaging programming. CNN was an early innovator with Twitter too. Our openness made it all possible.
Twitter’s open approach might have the power to transform television—the dominant communications receiver worldwide. We’re very excited to see where these experiments take us.