Social media and #Spooks: Should fictional TV characters use Twitter?
27th September 2010, 10:56 pm by Matt Rhodes
- Image via Wikipedia
If you are not in the UK you may not know of the TV series Spooks. It is popular and award-winning BBC drama series following the work of a group of MI5 spies. It has just returned for its 9th season and many people are tuning in every Monday to see the adventures of Lucas North, Sir Harry Pearce and others. And, each Monday Twitter is flooded with discussions as people watch the show – the hashtag #Spooks usually trending globally during each episode. We’ve written before about how social media can complement television, and the discussions on Twitter range from people commenting on the characters on what is happening in the plot through to discussions about the actors, sets and other things.
This year, Spooks are trying something different. The main characters are all on Twitter. And they are discussing thing with each other and with other Twitter users. You can find most of them in the following list from Sir Harry Pearce (or @SirHJPearce as he is known): My Colleagues and Others.
It is unclear if these are ‘official’ accounts for the characters (and I would love to find out either way if anybody knows) but the experiment raises an interesting question for me. Notably – should fictional characters in a television series tweet whilst the series is being shown. Social media is a great complement to television, but the danger with having characters tweeting is that they take you out of the fictional construct you are enjoying and, potentially, burst the bubble that has been created on the screens.
For example, at a particularly tense moment in this evening’s episode where new recruit Beth was seemingly betraying her colleagues I tweeted:
I think we all want some answers from @Beth_MI5 #spooks
As I was tweeting this, Beth was on my screens rushing through the streets of London, but she also found time to respond to me within minutes:
@mattrhodes mmmm not yet
And I wasn’t the only one to get responses. Beth was busy betraying her colleagues on screen and also engaging on Twitter at the same time. And this is where I think this use of Twitter starts to fall down. I am a huge fan of experimenting in social media, but also a huge fan of Spooks. I enjoy an hour a week of tense drama – losing myself to the plot I see unfolding on my television screen and the characters who are part of it. For me, this use of Twitter bursts that bubble.
I appreciate that I may be alone in this view, that others may enjoy the conversations on Twitter whilst they are also enjoying the action on their television screens. But for me it begins to break the fictional bubble that I have been enjoying – until I see the characters using Twitter on the screens as they respond to me, of course…
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Andrew Davis:
I agree in the sense of having that air of mystery about a character but one of the smartest moves i’ve seen in TV was a while ago when Brookside had a DVD out called “The Lost Weekend”. They built up a storyline on TV and made you want to buy the DVD to see. Great way to do more with a character, but I do unerstand your point. I only want to see Jonny Drama on TV, not Twitter
27 September 2010, 11:21 pmIan H:
Why not just switch Twitter off for an hour while you’re watching Spooks? That way you can give it your undivided attention and won’t see any Twitter interaction with the characters. Worked for me…
27 September 2010, 11:32 pmPyston Broak:
Dear Ivan,
Damn! You told me never to use that name, I do apologise.
Dear Matt,
I think you must learn to suspend your disbelief whilst engaging in twitter-talk, just as you do when watching the plot unfold on screen. Surely you are aware that MI-5 would never allow such transmission to go out live?
Censorship is an absolute necessity if we are to keep this great land of ours free of the clutches of tyranny and corruption, hence the seemingly shoddy synchronization between on-screen action and the replies of agents selected for Twitter participation.
I do hope this settles your mind, as one endeavours to prevent unnecessary distress whenever possible, indeed that is one of MI-5′s prime functions.
Further, if you continue to find dissatisfaction in this unique service…provided, I must point out, at no extra cost to the citizens of our extremely fortunate & rather well-defended land…may I suggest that in order to preserve your rather fragile bubble’s integrity, you refrain from fraternizing with tweetdom until such time as the nation’s few and unassuming guardians have yet again successfully thwarted the latest dastardly threat-posing villians?
Thank you for your concerns, I am confident that I have been able to set your troubled mind to rest and feel certain that you can once again sleep peacefully in your bed.
Yours sincerely,
The Right Hon.
Lord Pyston Broak
MChS/FChS
28 September 2010, 12:12 am@LStacey:
If done correctly (which it appears this wasn’t) it could work very well. What better to totally immerse you in a storyline than to feel like you are part of it by engaging with the characters?
28 September 2010, 10:37 amKaprekar:
Before you pass judgement, why don’t you try actually following and interacting with these characters for a while – this article makes you sound like a complete killjoy.
28 September 2010, 5:44 pmStronginwill:
The Big Bang Theory has a few characters on twitter, it’s used to particularly good effect there. Especially, I have to say, the interactions between Sheldon Cooper, PhD and Will Wheaton…
29 September 2010, 11:24 amdeeharvey:
I don’t think you sound like a killjoy.
If you were following a hashtag and suddenly had a “character” in a story you were watching and chatting about start tweeting at you, then it is understandable that you might not enjoy that and wish to switch it off.
I think perhaps it would be better for these characters not to engage with people unless those people have chosen to follow them. I imagine there are a lot of people who do not care to talk to fake people on Twitter.
If you are using Twitter as a backchannel to share your enjoyment of a programme with other actual people, it seems something of an imposition to have people pretending to be the characters inserting themselves into the conversation unbidden (although in this case, you did actually start a conversation with her…).
I’ve often found a good way to immerse myself in a storyline is to pay attention to it. I’ve no real interest in interacting with people who are pretending to be characters from a work of fiction. Some people might, but I’d like the option to keep Twitter open but not having to interact with fictional characters in a programme I’m watching.
5 October 2010, 5:21 pmKaprekar:
He initiated a conversation and then complains/acts surprised when he got a response. *duh*
9 October 2010, 8:49 pm