One of my guilty little pleasures as many of you know, is Syfy Channel’s ‘Haven’, based loosely on Steven King’s novella, ‘The Colorado Kid.’
Twitter is set to play a major role in a storyline lasting 7 episodes beginning this Friday. Two of the characters (@VinceHaven, @DaveHaven) start playing a game to see who can attract the most followers, but the contest takes a twist when strange tweets appear.
In an excerpt from the Wall Street Journal:
“What’s more, Twitter-savvy viewers have the opportunity to follow along, with viewers on the East Coast, where it airs first, having the added advantage of following the Tweets in near real-time. Audience members can visit the Twitter feeds of the individual characters (@VinceHaven, @DaveHaven) or go to syfy.com/Haven but it isn’t necessary to look at Twitter in order to follow the show’s plot.
Robin Sloan, Twitter’s media partnership manager, told Digits that the way Syfy uses Twitter breaks new ground. While past shows may have featured a joke about Twitter or a character who uses Twitter, the social network was “never core.” In the case of ‘Haven’ Sloan says, “If you took Twitter away from the plot, you would feel that something is missing.” Sloan was initially contacted by Haven’s producers about their Twitter plot-line. His advice: “don’t focus on the “twitterness,” or the fact that the characters are using Twitter. Fundamentally, what matters is the content itself.”
This appears to be the first time a social media site has been such an integral part of a television series, marking this a first for the Syfy Channel. I will keep you updated once more information becomes available.
History is to be written, and “Haven” is sharpening their pencils!
