Confessions of a two screening tragic

For today’s TV viewer, one screen isn’t enough. Steve Molk tells us why networks need to take notice of two screening.

My name is Steve Molk and I like to live tweet television shows. A lot. I get a kick from connecting with people who watch the same programs I do and together we discuss, joke, and in the blood sport that is ABC1’s Q&A, compete  to see our tweets on screen.

The term ‘two screening’ was coined to describe the growing number of people who, like me, consume television with two different devices, usually the TV and a smart phone or laptop. This allows viewers to watch (or more accurately, listen) to a show while keeping up with the conversation, primarily on the social media network Twitter.

The use of a ‘hashtag’ (a word, acronym or phrase used to identify the show, preceded by a hash e.g. #JnrMasterChef) allows those following the conversation to identify tweets they wish to read. It’s a phenomenon that went largely unnoticed by wider TV audiences and it’s only as programs started to include hashtags and respond to questions in-show that the public has become aware of this clandestine undertaking.