Integrating television and social networks is, in my opinion, one of the most exciting things you can do because of the instant feedback loop you create by merging broadcast and interactive media. At the Mobile Web Africa conference last year Nic Haralambous and I started chatting with the eTV team (eTV is a national television station in South Africa) with the end goal of using The Grid’s location-based mood data to enhance one of their shows.

Today we launched the Sunrise MoodMaps on eTV to a national free-to-air audience and so far the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. During this initial stage we are showing the percentage happiness of each province in the country based on the previous 24-hours of aggregated mood data from our social network. We introduced the concept to the audience today and from tomorrow the maps will be integrated into the two news slots and during the Sunrise show. Nic and I are pretty certain no-one has done this before, please let us know if you find another example of a social network adding moods to a national news/weather show.

I will post video footage as soon as we get the files but below is a screenshot of our initial designs for the show. They do look slightly different to the on-air version but they will give you a good idea of what we’re doing.

Wrapping it with content

As things progress we want to move from general to specific in terms of what these maps show and you can see how this can very quickly become an instant mass polling tool that is greatly aided by the fact that we have location attached to our users.

While we were looking through the historical data for the week, as an example, we noticed that the murder of Eugene Terreblanche doubled the total volume of people who were angry on Sunday morning. On average though, the whole country was 6% happier because of the Easter holiday.

Working with the eTV team has been great – they are an amazingly innovative group of people who really get the space we’re playing in – and we’re looking forward to making the MoodMaps better every day.

OFFICIAL VODACOM/ETV PRESS RELEASE

THE GRID AND e.tv PARTNER TO MAP OUT SOUTH AFRICANS’ MOODS

7 April 2010

Vodacom’s the Grid, South Africa’s only location-based mobile social network, has partnered with e.tv to show the mood of the country daily, based on the Grid user data.

Users on the Grid can set their mood to happy or sad. Using this data alongside users’ geographical locations, the Grid and e.tv are able to create a Mood Map of the country, similar to that of the weather map.

From 7 April 2010 e.tv will feature the Mood Map every morning after the weather report on Sunrise (weekdays from 6AM to 8AM), breaking the mood percentages for each of the nine provinces down into “happy” and “sad”, for instance, “Gauteng is 73% happy today, but KZN is 64% sad”. Only mood updates made in the preceding 24 hours will be used to make the provincial and overall country calculations.

e.tv will use their weather software to automatically collect the data from the Grid on a daily basis to compile the Mood Map animation for broadcast.

The partnership is a first of its kind and sees a news channel using data from a social networking platform for statistical purposes.

e.tv’s executive producer, Nicholas Maphopha says, “Sunrise is always looking at being innovative by introducing new technologies that will make the show more interactive. The mood maps can potentially gauge viewers’ moods on topics covered in the show, the weather or issues happening in their daily lives.”

Says Vincent Maher, Portfolio Manager Social Media, Vodacom South Africa: “The partnership with e.tv is a great interactive way for users of a social network like the Grid to see how their actions influence the general mood of the country. We are using the data from a social network in an innovative way by showing users how their mood updates contribute to the overall mood of the country or province.”

To access the Grid, SMS ‘MOOD’ to 33313 (50c/SMS) or visit http://onthegrid.mobi/
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Issued by:
Cow
Donald Swanepoel
Tel: +27 21 422 5430
E-mail: donald@cowafrica.com
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NOTES TO EDITORS

The Grid is a location-based social network that uses your cellphone to connect you with people, places and events around you. From your cellphone you can see which friends are in your area, chat to people across South Africa and share photos and videos – wherever you are.

The Grid is overlayed on street maps, meaning you’re able to tag content to specific addresses, recommend venues (e.g. restaurants) and even find directions to venues recommended by others.

For your cellphone, the Grid is available as a downloadable Java application or, to those without Java capabilities, a mobi site at http://wap.thegrid.co.za. There is also a full-feature website as well as a handy desktop application for when you’re stuck behind your computer at http://www.thegrid.co.za.

To participate, SMS ‘mood’ to 33313 (50c/SMS).