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A few days ago we mentioned some of the ways in which third party sites and services were tapping into Facebook Connect for interactive ways in which to experience today’s inauguration of President-elect Barak Obama. But there are a number of applications on Facebook’s platform that are doing the same.
This morning we hear of Watch Together’s special version of its Facebook app, called Obama Together, enabling Facebook users to host their own inauguration party online. Users can host a live video chat with their Facebook friends, while watching the live stream Ustream coverage of today’s inauguration.
In order to participate in the live video chat, you’ll first need to add the Watch Together application on Facebook. If you have no other friends that have added the app, you won’t have anyone to chat with but you can still view the live Ustream video coverage. Invite some friends to join in and a live video chat sesseion will ensue. Facebook users in this video chat session can play, pause and skip the video and the frames will be played in sync for all video chat participants.
So far the application has worked pretty smoothly for me, and it creates a rather intimate way in which to experience the inauguration with friends I already know. A number of other sites are providing ways in which to chat with others that are merely watching the same video experience online, but for those that would prefer a video chat with a handful of known acquaintances in a private environment, this Watch Together application meets those needs.
The best thing about applications such as Watch Together’s is of course the fact that they provide virtual ways in which disparate individuals can have a shared experience through a given online medium. The interactive capabilities that Watch Together provides makes today’s inauguration more accessible to a great number of people that may have otherwise watched the inauguration alone on the television.
This is a very smart move for CNN to use Facebook Connect to create a co-viewing environment for the Inaguration. CNN has been at the forefront of a traditional news company using social media, but this move shows they obviously understand social media and understand how to integrate it into their offerings. It also shows they understand the audience. Obama’s campaign was one of the greatest implementations of social media marketing, and it was so effective because his audience are the people using social media. CNN is using all of this information to relate to a connected audience, while hopefully bringing more users to their site.
see what else…http://breakinghabit.wordpress.com/2009/01/20/follow-the-inaguration-with-your-friends-through-facebook/
Just a clarification for the comment above. This article is about an alternative Facebook app called “Obama Together” and not the CNN/Facebook solution. “Obama Together” is a daughter app to another FB app called “Watch Together”. The “Obama Together” app was released specifically for the Obama Inauguration. Both “Watch Together” and “Obama Together” are Facebook apps which allow a Facebooker to view the same video (YouTube) or live streams in sync while at the same time having live webcam chats with their friends all within the same app. The App’s URL is:
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=11621746459