Social TV and the Participation Dilemma in NBC’s The Voice

In this article, I explore the perks and perils of social TV as a strategy for networks to drive tune-in to episodes as they air and to strengthen audience engagement. I do so by examining reality singing competitions in the United States, and specifically the NBC show The Voice. In analyzing the development of social media use in the program over the course of its first seven seasons, I identify a participation dilemma. This dilemma results from the fact that in giving viewers influence over aspects of the production to create an emotional investment, producers relinquish control over the contents of the show, which needs to appeal to large audiences. In addition, I classify the applications of social media: promotional, affective, functional, and phatic. In discussing these examples, I show how the “new” strategies of social TV hark back to “old” strategies that predate their use.