Week #5 – Emerging trends in television
Today is our last writing prompt for the month of July. In July, we have been discussing emerging trends, leaders of emerging trends, and emerging trends in pop culture, and technology. Today, your job is to describe five sources that track television shows.
Creative Idea Gal’s Thoughts
This almost feels like a fairytale, but I’ll do my best to recount a recent story without waving my magic wand. Not one week ago, I received an innocent e-mail from Papa John’s pizza restaurant. Since I am a member of the Papa John’s reward program, Papa John’s shared information with me to keep me in the loop of excitement. I was encouraged to download a smartphone application called Viggle in order to earn points so that I could get free Papa John’s pizza.
I downloaded the application to my iPhone and began capturing soundbytes of all the television shows I watched. Viggle refers to these captured soundbytes as “checking in.” As soon as you check into a show, Viggle records it in your account. At the end of the show, you are credited with one point for every minute you watched the show, which is the same as saying one point for every minute that the show is on. I thought the concept was fascinating and in less than a week after using Viggle on a daily basis, I have already begun spotting emerging trends on television shows. How? For starters, Viggle correctly identifies the names of television shows. For me, that’s a huge plus because I no longer have cable. I can’t just press the guide button and get the information so easily!
I encourage you to download Viggle to your smartphone, if you have one. It really is an easy way to earn points, possibly get free things, and at the same time, you are actively learning a lot about the t.v. shows you are watching.
Tips on How to Spark Creativity in Writing
- Tip #14 – Keep a history of your t.v. watching.
Today’s tip is odd, but it has value. What on earth could be so valuable about keeping track of your own television viewing habits and creating a record or history? For starters, such a record would help you easily distinguish genres and types of shows. If you watch too much of one thing, you might be inspired to watch something new. If you watched something one time and don’t watch it again, at some point, you’ll pick up on that and possibly discover that it’s off the air. Why? That’s a great starting point to research and discovery.
It’s easy to forget which shows you’ve watched, but keeping a written record of it (or at least an electronic record http://trakt.tv/ ) is useful information to get your brain motivated. You may start to see your own emerging trends.
Emerging Trends on Twitter
Here is a sampling of yesterday’s emerging trends based on Twitter hashtags:
#hispanicimagines (appears to be random thoughts on what it’s like to be Hispanic accompanied by images; might be a Twitter “burp,” perhaps they meant HispanicImages instead of imagines)
#twisted (refers to a t.v. show called Twisted on ABC Family)
#ICAC (an Australian government group called NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption)
Writing Prompt 089
Prompt: Describe five sources that track television shows.
- Step 1: Sources can be anything that keeps track t.v. shows, such as web sites, blogs, or smartphone applications. Do basic Internet research on sources that discuss t.v. shows.
- Step 2: Strengthen your research by digging deeper. How do the sources keep track of t.v. shows? Does the source offer a searchable database? Does it offer previews of upcoming shows? Does it offer incentives for people to track t.v. shows? These are some questions to think about.
- Step 3: Describe five sources that track television shows. I already discussed the iPhone application Viggle as one great source that tracks t.v. shows. There are so many other sources that track the shows differently. List five and describe them.
Please be sure to leave comments about this writing prompt. We want to hear from you!
About the Author
Amanda M. Socci – a.k.a. Creative Idea Gal
Amanda M. Socci is the creator of this unique 10-month training program providing writing prompts to nonfiction writers. Amanda is a diehard creative and an aspiring book author, currently blogging a book on faith, A Slice of Faith, on a community website. Visit Amanda’s blog. Follow Amanda on her journey to book publication. Like A Slice of Faith on Facebook.
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