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Twitter has evolved a lot during the last year, trying to find out what they want to be as a grown up. Before now it has seemed like Twitter didn’t really know what it was supposed to be - a user-generated news platform, a real-time information network or an ad-driven media corporation? Now CEO Dick Costolo clarified Twitter’s positioning intentions. He wants to establish Twitter as a second screen for existing media.

In a white paper Twitter make it pretty clear that they view their relationship to television as “strongly symbiotic”. Obviously people enjoy discussing TV happenings on Twitter, having one eye on the TV screen and the other on their news feed, observing what other viewers have to say on the topic. As a matter of fact, at peak TV viewing time 40 % of UK Twitter traffic is about TV.

“Through the two distinct phenomena of discovery and engagement, Twitter and TV drive each other in a complimentary cycle.”

The microblogging service has become a real-time mirror for TV content and advertising. And at Twitter’s HQs in San Francisco they are sure that every programme and every ad aired on TV has a Twitter presence.

Twitter-TV Relationship Key Stats

According to a study by SecondSync 60% of all UK Twitter users use the service while watching TV with 80% accessing it via a mobile device. A solid 90% of online public conversations about TV is happening on Twitter, which kind of proves their position as second screen application, doesn’t it?

What Twitter reveals about TV shows

A passionate audience, celebrity tweets and dynamic hashtags generated 14 million tweets about X-Factor in 2012. The engagement during the first live show was twice as high as the year before.

But what is more interesting is that Twitter often indicates public opinion and predicts trends. From day one of the show there were more tweets about James Arthur - the eventual winner - than any other contestant. Also in the finals James was mentioned 387k times, compared to 86k mentions for the runner up Jahmene Douglas.

Every ad has a Twitter presence

Not only every programme, but also every TV ad gets talked about on Twitter. Even if a company chooses not to actively use the platform, their ad will be discussed. The number of people who tweet is always just a small amount of those who might be exposed.

“When considering reach on the platform, both those exposed and those who tweet demonstrate value to brands.”

Morrison’s Christmas TV ad, for example, had only 1.1k mentions. However, the total unique reach of the 1.1k tweets rapidly scaled to 533k - without any Twitter promotion.

Whether TV producers and companies advertising on TV use or care about social media, they may rest assured that their shows and ads are being discussed on Twitter. Conversations are happening in real-time, which makes Twitter a promising second screen experience that should not be underestimated - or do you think differently?

*Image sourced by venturebeat.com