Social Media
Social media has made some massive changes to the film industry and entertainment experience. Global conversations take place on social media about new film releases and people are open to share their views with the rest of the world. However social networking is now not just limited to home movie watching. A poll has found that an overwhelming majority of 18-34 year olds believe using social networks such as Facebook and Twitter while watching a movie at the cinema would actually enhance their experience. Nearly half would be interested in going to cinemas that allowed texting and web surfing.
Online Promotion
Social media is also changing the ways films are promoted, for example it is now a lot easier for independent film companies to reach a mass, global audience through using social networking sites to advertise. From creating viral alternate reality campaigns to using social networks to build awareness, the film industry is busy leveraging social media to connect with fans and promote its products. One of the best examples of using this strategy was for Paramount's "Paranormal Activity". The film, which was made for less than $15,000 went on to gross more than $150 million at the box office. Paramount extensively used Facebook to promote the film.
A lot of new horror films now use the hashtag and their film name featured in the trailers. This shows that a lot now have fan based twitter pages to recieve the audience's attention. As social networking is becoming imperative in people's everyday lives this is a great way of reaching a mass audience. A staggering 72% of social media users post online comments about films they see, according to one poll. The survey, conducted by the consulting firm Penn Schoen & Berland and The Hollywood Reporter, also found that a third of social media users had seen a movie in a cinema because of something they had read on a social network. Half of 18- to 24-year-olds in his poll said multitasking while using social networking sites adds to their experience of watching a movie in the cinema.
Although the use of social media can be very beneficial to film producers it can cause problems. For example the recently released horror film "The Purge: Anarchy" has fuelled online cause for concern. First Coast News received multiple messages in social media in August from concerned viewers asking about an ominous photo floating around social media sites. The graphic image titled 'The Purge' reads "Get Your Squad Ready" and gives a date of midnight on August 31st. An image of a creepy smiling man along with smaller images of a knife and a gun are also seen in the graphic. The post has popped up in cities like Louisville, Jacksonville and Detroit. Threats of a "Louisville Purge" even caused the postponement of at least one high school football game. The image is of a character from "The Purge", a 2013 American horror thriller film where people have a 12-hour period when all crimes become legal. The Purge was also the theme for last year's Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. Below is the image that circulated social media sites which was later to be found as a "fun thing" with no intention to harm anyone.
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