Nicole Richie is a reality TV superstar, Anthony Anderson has a new show coming on ABC this fall, and Paul Scheer has his hand in more TV brands than anyone can easily name. The three have been part of successful, as well as short-lived, TV shows, and have seen their fair share of social media successes and failures.

Richie’s new show on VH1 actually started because of her Twitter account and frequently uses the platform for new ideas, while Scheer calls some social strategy “that crappy sweaty Internet stuff.”

During Variety TV Summit’s panel on Wednesday, “TV’s Creative Trailblazers,” the television stars debated the worth of social media on TV and how to be authentic while telling one’s story – whatever that may be.

Richie, star of “Candidly Nicole,” began her show on the Web with AOL before taking it to a bigger stage at VH1. Originally the idea was for a talk show, but she says she wasn’t ready for that yet, favoring a more exploratory setting. “Candidly Nicole” came out of what Richie posted on her Twitter account (@nicolerichie), asking questions and seeking out answers to everyday things like how to be a good boss or how online dating works. “I wanted to do it on the Web to see if people even cared about it,” said Richie, speaking about using AOL as a testing ground. “The coolest part about doing it on the Web for me was when I went to take TV meetings, the show already was what it was. The format was already there.”

Starting to promote his own work was very different for Scheer, who is currently or has been involved in (“Hot Wives of Orlando,” “Burning Love,” “Children’s Hospital,” “NTSF:SD:SUV::” and “The League.” Coming out of Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, Scheer was taught to promote his own stuff – be it on stage, onscreen or on the sidewalk. “Everything comes from that core idea of ‘I like this idea, I want to get it out myself,’” said Scheer. “I’ve avoided network stuff. It’s a lot of people not knowing what their bosses want, telling you what their bosses want.” He added that using his own platform to promote his work led to a more niche but loyal audience, because they really understood where he was coming from.

Anderson, whose show “Black-ish” is coming up on ABC this fall, uses his own story for the series and says that the personal nature of it all creates a more authentic nature when he tries to promote it. Because the show takes inspiration from his own life experiences, Anderson says that the social media and on-air messaging is more genuine than someone trying to tweet about experiences they don’t understand. “We’re telling the story as truthful as we can,” said Anderson. “Audiences can see right through the bullshit.”

Scheer agreed, saying that some social media is too fake to relate to. “Anything more manufactured is less engaging,” he said.

Richie continues to use Twitter to influence the direction of her show. She and her team go through tweets and what her followers have responded well to in order to decide on the next topic or episode. “It’s a way to relate to them and say ‘we’re going to go through this together,’” said Richie. “It’s a way to tell them they’re a part of the show too.”

Anderson agrees that some of the best social media strategies come from just listening to the audience. “They will let you know what direction they want you to go in,” he said. “You can’t plan that.”

Scheer, who says he has seen some bad social media ideas out there, says they all come down to one thing: they’re not reflective of the show the creators want to make. “What we have to avoid is the crappy sweaty Internet stuff,” he said, by which he means telling the show’s stars to tweet even though they don’t normally use the platform or creating hashtags that make no sense to the brand. “A lot of people get these social media jobs, and they’re not really addressing your audience It’s a weird thing. There’s a lot of bad social media ideas out there.”

In the end, the three, who are all involved with their projects behind the scenes as well as onscreen, agreed that unless social platforms can be used in a natural and authentic way, involving users (not talking down to them), don’t use them at all.

Tags:


  Save as PDF