Random idea for the next stage in reality TV. A completely glass-walled apartment in a well populated area, such as Times Square, where all passers-by could see in from the outside. Only there’s one catch, the “show” is not on TV.
That is correct, it is not a TV show. Instead, it is strictly narrated via social media tools from the audience and cast members. As people walk by they can take photos, send tweets, report their location on Foursquare, take video, update their Facebook status, or whatever other social communication people wish to use.
The show could be financed just by the ads placed on the cast members Facebook pages, within cast members tweets, or on the “show’s” website which I’m sure would include streaming Twitter feeds of all the hash tagged show references amongst other social media aggregation. Clever minds could find a lot of ways to generate income off of this via social media. Besides the apartment rental and setup, the show would be extremely low budget without all of the TV production costs. I imagine a few security guards outside the house would help keep things in order.
The assumption is that the show will thrive on real-life audience interactive voyeurism rather than the television “Real World” type voyeurism that creates a boundary between the voyeurs and the cast members. A random person could walk by the apartment, tweet about what they saw to the outside world, or even tweet a “hello” to the cast members inside. It combines what some web-cam type live shows have used for their plots with the increase in real-time web chatter to act as the camera, not just an open channel of communication.
The interesting part about this idea is that it does not need a big production company behind it to get it going. This could be started by any random group of roommates out there willing to open up their lives to the world. Bring in some attractive roommates, do some stupid stuff in front of the public eye, and set up your social networking platforms correctly to begin with, and the next reality hit could be yours.
*image source: knd.com.au
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Conor — If you get a chance, watch the documentary We Live in Public. It’s about a similar idea that took place in New York in 1999 and into 2000. The project was run by Internet pioneer Josh Harris. He’s a weird guy, but it’s an interesting film.
Thanks Lou, I will check it out