It would be remiss to not start this post by stating the obvious; that the 2013 Grammys were a social media juggernaut.
15.4 million social interactions (source: Trendrr.tv)
88% of all Grammy-related messages sent were from a mobile device, a 31% increase from last year (source: Billboard.com)
2.6 million uses of the official #GRAMMYs hashtag (source: Billboard.com)
Beyond the stats, there were many positive lessons to be learned from the Grammys social media performance. Such positives include relentlessly promoting official handles and hashtags, highlighting the value social media participants could expect by following along online, and being active on various social media networks during the event.
There was, however, one incredibly glaring missed opportunity.
Despite all of LL Cool J's promotion, social media fan engagement failed to play a meaningful role in the Grammy Awards television broadcast.
With so much online discussion and participation, the only social media commentary that made it to the airwaves were a few shallow comments that were both lacking in substance, and resulted in the provision of virtually no added value. Why do we need to be read a tweet about how hot Taylor Swift is? We don't.
Instead, imagine how awesome it would have been if the social media managers behind the Grammys were identifying and responding to tweets and comments on the air that would have altered the programming in an interesting, entertaining, or educational way. Tweets and comments that a response to which would generate further social media discussion and commentary, or that would give social participants a sense of being rewarded for their interesting questions, comments and discussion points.
It would have been amazing if discussions in social media resulted in an impromptu behind the scenes look at the Grammys, an interesting interview question being asked to one of the hundreds of artists in attendance, an unique perspective or prediction being shared, or something of the like.
In the end, despite the amazing number of discussions that were occurring online, the on air impact of social media turned out to be little more than LL Cool J repeatedly imploring fan participation. It would have been nice to see all of those conversations, and all of those voices, result in something more meaningful.
What is your take on the Grammys social media performance?
Do you have any killer examples of a live televised event that has used social media to positively impact or influence the broadcast?
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