San Francisco — Popular microblogging outfit Twitter is already a big star on TV shows such as Fox’s “Glee” and NBC’s “The Voice,” and now the online-messaging service is craving to shine even brighter. On Monday the San Francisco company said that it has granted access of the more than 250 million tweets sent daily to two firms — Mass Relevance and Crimson Hexagon, which encourage viewers to broadcast tweets while watching the shows, the company announced Monday.
Real-time reactions are proving to be an indispensable source of information on television networks, which is why Twitter’s latest partnerships with two Twitter data firms is a big deal. Thus, the move is also a big deal for Twitter because the additional visibility on these major TV programs is helping to drive growth for the social network.
Mass Relevance displays relevant tweets on a website, on air or at a real-world venue, whereas Crimson Hexagon helps pinpoint Twitter users’ thoughts, opinions and feelings about a brand, TV show, event or news story. It provided the Twitter analysis in CNN’s 2010 election coverage, for example.
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Surprisingly, some live shows, such as NBC’s “The Voice,” advanced it a step further by displaying tweets by viewers on the air, thanks to firms such as Mass Relevance, which helps find the most relevant tweets. The TV appearances have helped Twitter increase its active user base, which stands at more than 100 million people worldwide.
Additionally, the Twitter data firms will work directly with media companies to determine new means of connecting and accumulating information about a particular show’s audience without Twitter’s involvement.
In a survey of Twitter’s business in September, its chief executive, Dick Costolo, motivated third-party developers to focus on data mining.
“We see substantial demand from brands, publishers, and TV networks who need help expanding their content to include compelling Twitter integrations,” said Chloe Sladden, Twitter’s director of content and programming, in a written statement.
According to Mass Relevance CEO Sam Decker, described that the deal enables media publishers to monetize Twitter content around their own. The company became the first of several partners officially licensed to re-syndicate Twitter content for display on television and other media, including billboards.
Decker asserted that the platform can refine 4,000 tweets per minute, down to about 30 that might go on the screen during some TV shows. The tweets served on TV are in near real-time.
The deal will help turn social into more followers, tweets and sharing, Decker said. “It is about bringing earned media into owned and paid media to make them more effective,” he said. “One thing we know is real-time social content offers more engagement than typical advertising marketing messages.”
For now, the deals with Mass Relevance, founded in 2010, and Crimson Hexagon, founded in 2007, would not necessarily result in more revenue for Twitter. “This is about growth, not a revenue play for us,” said Sladden. Sladden, who declined to comment on any financial arrangements, has led the company’s two-and-a-half year quest to get tweets on TV and other media outlets.
Nevertheless, as Twitter continues its quest for revenue, others are cashing in on the service. Well, according to popular tech news site Cnet quoted as reporting: “Today we learned celebrities can get paid up to $10,000 or more per Twitter post to tell their followers about clothes, cars and movies.