Social media services and microblogging applications, such as\ud ‘Twitter’, are changing the way in which many people consume\ud traditional broadcast media. Real-time backchannel conversations\ud are now common-place as audiences simultaneously watch TV\ud whilst using social media to broadcast their own thoughts,\ud sentiments, opinions and emotions related to what they are\ud watching. This individual behaviour, when aggregated, results in\ud a new social experience comprising of mass, real-time, coconsumption\ud of TV services. This paper describes a study which\ud aims to understand user behaviour in this emerging area and\ud provides some preliminary analysis of viewers’ Twitter postings\ud during the UK TV shows, The X Factor and Question Time. Our\ud findings show that the postings expose audience engagement with\ud TV shows and support the assertion of Twitter’s growing\ud confluence with broadcast media

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Second-screening and live-tweeting alongside broadcast television generates new concerns with respect to online abuse. We present an investigation into the nature of Twitter-facilitated second-screening posts relating to Thelma's Gypsy Girls, one of a series of controversial documentary programmes portraying the Irish Traveller community that have recently been aired by the UK publicservice television broadcaster Channel 4. Sentiment analysis highlighted the general negativity of these posts whilst a detailed thematic inquiry revealed the often abusive and aggressive messages aimed directly at the community and individuals portrayed in the broadcast material. We discuss why users might be susceptible to exhibiting these behaviours, and the implications for the broadcast industry, and social TV designers and developers.

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Abstract-Serious games offer a relatively low cost, highly engaging alternative to traditional forms of soft skills training. The current paper describes an approach taken to designing a serious game for the training of soft skills. A tabletop prototype of the game was created and evaluated with a group of 24 participants. Initial findings suggest that the game successfully created an environment in which it was advantageous to engage in appropriate collaborative decision making behaviors, as well as providing built-in opportunities for a tutor to guide under-performing groups.