HBO‘s ​”Game of Thrones” is wildly popular online - whether it be through memes, fan art or enthusiastic Facebook posts, the show is dominating the social airwaves. This week’s season finale was no different, with more than 95,000 check-ins, stickers and votes on GetGlue alone.

Check out SocialTimes for a full infographic breaking down the finale’s social activity.

And though the finale was Facebook-posted and tweeted like crazy, that doesn’t mean everyone watching was watching on HBO. Earlier this year, “Game of Thrones” was named one of the most pirated shows on TV, and Season 3 upped the ante with a brand new piracy record. The 5.4 million viewers that tuned in during the finale’s first run bumps up to more than 6 million with a second screening on HBO, and it grows even higher to possibly 6.5 million because of a rapidly expanding viewership of Internet pirates.

According to BitTorrent, this weekend’s finale has set the record for the most pirated episode of television with more than 170,000 people simultaneously sharing the episode less than 24 hours after the original airing. That number is expected to grow as the week goes on and possibly reach up to 5 million illegal downloads of the episode.

Which begs the question - if all social engagement is good engagement, how do you market a show to viewers who are active on social media but won’t pay for your service?

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