Get Glue: Checking In and Checking Out Rewards

Article first published as Get Glue: The Way of the Future on Blogcritics.

At the 2011 Comic Con Warehouse 13 actor Saul Rubinek said that he would love an artefact that would enable him to gauge the real amount of viewers. Saul mentions that his daughter in college told him that no one there has the time or patients to watch TV shows when they are airing on the traditional medium and that knowing the actual number of people who watch the show would show that that Warehouse gets more viewers than what is measured at the Neilson ratings.

Get Glue might not be an artefact but it is a great way to measure how many people are watching and thinking about a TV show, movie, book, or topic. Get Glue is a new social networking site with a difference. Rather than updating a status, users check in when they are watching a TV show or movie, reading a book, listening to music, or thinking about a topic. This is more entertaining and exciting than updating on FaceBook or Twitter because you can see how many other people around the world are watching the same show or reading the same as you. You can also use it to compete against friends and family to see who the bigger fan is or who saw the movie first.

Get Glue is also one of the first social networking sites to reward its members. Some check-ins are rewarded with a virtual sticker that adorns your profile, and when you have 20 stickers you can opt to have these sent to you- free of charge. The stickers are roughly the size of a button and are real; you can put them in your diary or on your fridge it’s up to you.

Get Glue has over 50 major entertainment sponsors helping to boost the number of series, books, sports, and movies on the site. With the Fall TV line up starting this week in America it’s no surprise that distribution companies are falling over each other to have their show on the site. Get Glue is a great way for these companies to find out who is watching their show and how they are doing it. People can check in from all over the world and comment with the episode number and time that they are watching and this gives the networks the information that they have been waiting for. For example, eight thousand people may check in when the new episode of The Office is airing but over the next 24 hours a further 10,000 may check in from overseas who have downloaded the show or from people watching it from their DVR. Get Glue is the way that networks can track who is watching their programs.

Obviously, I don’t work for Get Glue but I am a member, and being a member is free and you don’t have to pay extra to get your stickers. I encourage everyone to join up to make it easier for networks and producers to see the real number of people who are watching their TV shows, reading their books, and thinking about their sports.

So Saul, this might not be an artefact like you’re used to, but Get Glue sure has some power.

Who else is on Get Glue and would like to share their experiences? Do you like it or think that it's a fad? Let me know in the comments.

Kathy

Themes: Get Glue, SMM, social media, Social Networking