The use of
social media has significantly increased in the past few years as more social
networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr have
emerged. In our technology driven world
today, it is becoming easier to connect and stay up to date with the people
around us, whether it be friends, coworkers, or celebrities. Many stars and
creators of popular television shows utilize social media in order to share
glimpses of their personal and professional lives to their fans. Through the
rise of social media, interacting with the stars and creators of hit television
series, such as ABC Family’s Pretty
Little Liars, has contributed to their overall success as it allows viewers
to stay up to date, provide feedback about the show, and remain entertained all
year long.
Pretty
Little Liars is a teen mystery drama that follows the lives of four girls
who are stalked and harassed by an unknown figure following the disappearance
of their best friend. The thriller is
aimed towards females aged 12-34, which happens to be the same demographic of individuals
who are the most active on social media. Because of this, Pretty Little Liars has done a
great job establishing themselves on the various social media websites. They have over 12 million likes on Facebook,
2 million followers on Twitter, and each of the four stars have anywhere from 2
to 3 million followers on Instagram. Their
posts keep fans up to date by sharing the recaps of previous episodes, previews
for future episodes, and special inside scoops.
They often share pictures and clips of exciting moments of the upcoming
episode, drawing fans in and making them eager for what to expect when the
episode airs. The stars of the show,
Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Lucy Hale and Shay Mitchell, not only share
pictures from behind the scenes, but also from their personal lives. You can see anything from their latest trip to
Paris, to their impressive finish in a half marathon. They share truthful moments of their everyday
lives, which helps to create a stronger connection with their fans (Stransky).
The popularity of Pretty Little Liars on social media has
caused quite a bit of buzz. The season 3
finale that aired on March 19, 2013, became the most tweeted television episode
in history, producing over 1 million tweets during the live airing (Social
Meter). The producers and marketing team
work together to achieve this success by creating hashtags for particular
scenes during the episode, such as #AisMona or #EzrA, inviting viewers to interact
with each other on a larger scale. The
developer and executive producer of the show, I. Marlene King, believes that
their success on social media is bringing “must-see TV” back into today’s
television viewing world. What she means by this is that instead of recording
shows with DVR, viewers of Pretty Little
Liars would rather watch the episode live, being fearful of missing out on the
major OMG moments and chatter that occurs online. (Social Media + Pop
Culture). King’s assumptions hold true,
as in August 2013, Pretty Little Liars
attracted more than 3 million viewers to it’s summer finale (Kenneally).
Social media is also used as a
developmental strategy for the writers of Pretty
Little Liars. Twitter can be used as
a platform for fans and viewers to chime in and give their feedback about what
they like or dislike about the show.
King finds this to be very helpful, especially when it comes to the
characters: “And we can tell if we introduce a new hottie to the show and fans
really love him, we’ll keep him in the mix for a while” (Social Media + Pop
Culture). This allows fans to feel
valued because their thoughts and opinions can actually make a difference in
the show. Not only does the feedback
regarding new characters help guide intricate details of the show, but so does
the feedback of episode plotlines. This
past fall, Pretty Little Liars
introduced a new spin-off television series called Ravenswood. Creators knew it
was the perfect time to introduce Ravenswood
based on the reaction on Twitter following the Pretty Little Liars Halloween episode. The viewers of the Halloween episode enjoyed
the creepy and haunting storyline, which inspired and gave the producers
certainty that a supernatural spin-off series, like Ravenswood, would be accepted among the same demographic
(Jurgenson).
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Social media also allows avid fans
to stay entertained all year long, even during the breaks between seasons. Just because the show stops airing new
episodes, the stars and producers of the show don’t stop tweeting. King, who has over 300,000 followers herself
on Twitter, often interacts with fans and answers their questions by replying
to their tweets. She has also been known
to tweet certain quotes said by characters from future episodes, asking her
followers to predict who will say them. (Jurgenson). Another strategy that was used to entertain Pretty Little Liars fans during the
off-season was the spin-off web series called Pretty Dirty Secrets. The
mini web series took place during the break between the midseason 3 finale and
the special Halloween episode, and aimed to bring pleasure to fans who couldn’t
wait eight long weeks for another episode to air (Ross). Social media is used by fans to carry on a
year-long conversation, which often entails the prediction of new theories or
beliefs about the direction the show is headed (Social Media + Pop
Culture).
Although it is difficult to
determine if the popularity of Pretty
Little Liars on social media directly relates to higher ratings and
viewers, it definitely doesn’t hurt it.
The number of viewers has increased throughout the duration of the
series, with 3.6 million viewers during the first season compared to 4 million
viewers during the fourth (Jurgenson).
Social media also has many other benefits that factor into the success
of the show. It allows fans to keep up
with the latest whereabouts and news regarding the stars, it has been used as a
tool for feedback and a sign of interest in the spin-off series Ravenswood, and it provides a source of
entertainment for Pretty Little Liars fans
all year long.
Stransky, Tanner. "PRETTY
Little PHENOM." Entertainment Weekly 1248 (2013): 26. Film &
Television Literature Index. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
"Social Meter." Hollywood
Reporter (2013): 6. Film & Television Literature Index. Web. 24
Feb. 2014.
"Social Media + Pop Culture = ?
Disney's Anne Sweeney and TV Producer I. Marlene King on how the Online
Conversation is Transforming the Creative Process." Wall Street Journal
(Online)Jun 03 2013. ProQuest. Web. 25 Feb. 2014 .
Kenneally, Tim.
"'Pretty Little Liars' Finale Hits Record in Viewers & Tweets." Yahoo
TV. N.p., 29 Aug. 2013. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Jurgensen, John. "ARENA ---
Music & Television -- Spinoffs: 'Ravenswood': Twitter Hatches a TV
show." Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition ed.Oct 18 2013. ProQuest.
Web. 25 Feb. 2014 .
Ross, Robyn. "Today's
News: Our Take." TV Guide. N.p., 21 Aug. 2012. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
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ReplyDeleteI agree that social media plays a huge role with the marketing of a television show. I follow many different TV shows on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and it helps me to get more involved in the show. The use of social media is an effective strategy for viewers to get more connected and involved with the show and PLL is a perfect example of that with the increase of social media they present to the public even when the show is not being aired so that the viewers want to continue to feel connected to the characters and still want to watch the show even if it is months before the next episode. It would be interesting to see the difference between the popularity of shows comparing the shows that use social media a lot to reach viewers versus the shows that do not use much social media to reach out to viewers to see if there was a big difference.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the statement social media is a crucial role in marketing. I participate as a follower to many TV stars. I like to see what they are tweeting about during the shows to get their input on things. It is also interesting that during off seasons they use twitter to keep users involved in the show. I never considered production teams would be looking at dislikes/likes about the show through people's twitter posts. I always knew people tweeted their thoughts about episodes and shows through twitter but never considered who was reading them. I think it is smart for television producers to look at twitter to see what is getting the most attention and what viewers do not like. I think with the sudden growth of social media in our society today, pages like twitter play a very important role in the success of television series.
ReplyDeleteYour post was extremely well written and adequately explains all of the different roles social media plays in the production, marketing and development of television series today. It is really interesting how both production companies are able to use it for feedback from viewers and marketers are able to use it to promote the show as well. The more we are engrained with social media the more this type of development and marketing will continue to evolve television.
ReplyDeleteYour post was extremely well written and adequately explains all of the different roles social media plays in the production, marketing and development of television series today. It is really interesting how both production companies are able to use it for feedback from viewers and marketers are able to use it to promote the show as well. The more we are engrained with social media the more this type of development and marketing will continue to evolve television.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I have not seen Pretty Little Liars, but other shows that I watch do the exact same thing. I agree with you that social media is extremely important when marketing television shows. Whether it is through live tweets during the episodes with certain hashtags pertaining to that specific episode or in between seasons, social media is key to learning about future episodes, staying in touch with their favorite stars, or engaging in live tweets.
ReplyDeleteI'll give you a pat on the back just for the sheer effort in screencapping all those blogs.Giving a blog talk to beginner bloggers in the not-too-distant future, I'll be pointing people in the direction of your efforts. Nicely put together dude.Here is our small effort about buy-twitter-followers
ReplyDelete