Chapter 3
TV Check-In Services
Creating Vertical Social Networks around Television
Nina Perez is a 37-year-old fiction writer living in Atlanta, Georgia. She is able to stay at home to help raise her two kids while working as a Web content specialist for an outdoor gear and apparel company. Working from home has an added benefit for Nina: She can get her job done on her laptop while simultaneously watching TV. Nina admits to being a television fanatic and says that the TV is literally on all day and in multiple rooms in the house (apparently she has four TiVos).
Nina had been using an iPhone application called GetGlue that allowed her to “check-in” to the TV shows she watched and earn rewards (known as stickers) based on her activity. She noticed while on Facebook one day that one of her friends shared their TV check-in from another application called Miso. Though Nina had never heard of it before, she loved the idea of having the ability to check-in to a specific TV episode as opposed to the entire TV show.
Nina downloaded the app and quickly became hooked. She has since amassed over 100 Miso followers, checked-in to over 1000 television episodes, and earned more than 45 badges. Nina uses Miso to check in to just about every TV show she watches; she then auto posts every check-in to Twitter and Facebook. She absolutely loves the conversations that ensue when her friends see her check-ins and leave comments on Facebook or tweet her back. She also appreciates how seeing other people’s ...
