Remember when a show would leave you such a cliffhanger you couldn’t wait to get to work and chat around the water cooler recapping last night’s events? For some shows this post-episode chatter still exists; for other shows this conversation is happening immediately online. Every week after a new episode of Lost airs, millions of fans online gather online to analyze the minutest details of each scene. I was late to the Lost phenomenon, but now I am in so deep I don’t remember what a Wednesday (or Thursday or Friday) was like without immediately checking my favorite sites for new theories on what could happen next.

These top communities, such as Lost.tv, Lostepedia and Dark UFO, have influenced this show in a way we haven’t seen before. The producers and writers admit to keeping a close eye on the forums and monitoring what fans are saying:

“To that end, Lindelof and fellow executive producer Carlton Cuse say other Lost writers more closely monitor message boards, which attract some of the most devoted fans. Those writers act as a filter, relaying the interests of online fans while reducing the chances that they would overly influence the show’s direction.” (source: USAToday.com)

Viewers have a power over TV that we’ve never seen before. Betty White appearing on Saturday Night Live is another great example of how social media can change the course of a show’s programming. After 500,000 fans advocated for Mrs. White to make her SNL debut Lorne Michaels listened and she will be hosting this weekend.

What do you think about viewers having more of a say on what appears on TV? Do you think executives really listen?

It’s no secret that social media plays a HUGE role in how we receive information. Pew Internet just released a study that found that 75% of people find their news online through email or social media, with 52% forwarding news through those same means.

The implications of this study were epitomized as this weekend saw a surge of tweets as information about the earthquake became more readily available.

Illustrated above is the number of tweets surrounding Chile over the last week. On Saturday, February 27^th, almost 4% of the entire Twittersphere mentioned Chile in some capacity (according to Google, this is approximately 77,500 tweets; however I think it may be more).

Twitter has always been relatively quick to change and seems to be embracing its role as an organic news outlet. Brief statements (140 characters or less) are now posted when you click on the majority of trending topics. Sourcing info from whatthetrend.com gives users some context about the trend.

Is this a lasting means to obtain news? Only time will tell. It concerns me that anyone with a Twitter account can be deemed a “news  source”; however, individuals can be key in providing timely updates in situations like this.

What do you think? Should we trust Twitter as a news source or hope that, like a trending topic, this will eventually fade away?

Staying in touch with family members can be an incredibly hard task especially when you have an unfathomable large family like mine. Thankfully, my family has a website.

On here we pretty much do everything…upload pictures of the new babies, play MP3 of the latest family artist’s band, message boards ranging from what happened on desperate housewives to Heather’s new job, recipes, videos, pretty much anything you could possibly think of, we do.

The best part about this is the ability to see my cousins whom I haven’t met yet and don’t know when I will get meet, and of course the message boards. These provide entertainment for anyone I have ever met. Watching the succession of my aunts trying to decipher “ROFL” and “LMAO” is quite hilarious.

Anytime that anyone posts new materials an email is sent to all members. There is a web administrator who adds members to the group and has creative control over the website’s design.

This has been a great way to keep in touch and is easy to set up. Visit www.easysite.com for more details.