Past, Present, and Future of Social TV: A Categorization

Social Television constitutes a fundamental shift in how people interact and socialize around television content. Websites are starting to combine streaming services with social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Media software like Boxee allows users to recommend and share favorite television programs, and friends can jointly watch television remotely as demonstrated by Motorola's Social TV. The purpose of this paper is to provide a structured overview of current developments in this emerging field. Current offerings can be categorized based on the social purpose: content selection and recommendation, communication, community building, and status update. The framework proposed in this article is useful for better understanding the current situation and for identifying future developments.