In 2014, Syfy put the control of a new reality competition into the hands of Twitter users. The Twitter Popularity Index was a social media marketing campaign baked directly into the show itself. For the first time consumers could remote control a show based on their tweets. How the Twitter Popularity Index Works The Goal Syfy was tasked with creating an innovative social component for a new live reality competition that would accomplish the following goals: 1) Promote user engagement 2) Propel show awareness 3) Distinguish Syfy as a digital innovator in the programming and marketing space Syfy concluded that sentiment, or how people feel, was the next major innovation in the digital and social media sphere. While many shows have done live twitter votes based on volume, few have ever leveraged the polarizing sentiment of tweets to impact the game itself. This lead to the creation of the Twitter Popularity Index, a real time sentiment analysis platform, developed exclusively for Syfy and Opposite Worlds by a Georgetown adjunct professor. Results Since the premiere of the Opposite Worlds the results of the Twitter Popularity Index have been astounding. According to Social Guide, on night of premiere the Twitter popularity Index generated 21K uses of #OppositeWorlds by 7.4K unique Twitter users creating 1.6MM impressions and making it the # 1 Trending Topic on Twitter. Results have only grown since then. #OppositeWorlds has trended nationally on Twitter every night it is on the air. #OppositeWorlds has trended internationally twice since premiere. In addition, the names of players in the game such as Jeffry and Samm have also all trended both national and internationally on Twitter. Since premiere #OppositeWorld consistently generates between 52k - 55k uses per airing, making it the #1 hash tag across network and cable television according to Social Guide. The hashtag ranks higher than American Idol, Nashville, Duck Dynasty just to name a few. The Twitter Popularity Index has achieved success, making Opposite Worlds the most social show in Syfy history.
