"Social TV" is Here: Facebook Connect is Emerging as Powerful Catalyst for Video Views and Joost Integration Proves It

Facebook integration around video got its first high profile exposure with CNN and the Inauguration of President Obama, but the first was last year's collaboration with Joost.

A spokesperson for Facebook has told Beet.TV:

"Joost users who have connected their Facebook accounts continue to rank as most active group on the site. These users watch more videos, are more likely to participate in Joost.com's community, and are more likely to contribute comments about the site's video content."

Some metrics around the Joost/Facebook integration:

--Since Joost implemented Facebook Connect in December 2008, the average Facebook Connect Joost user has watched +29% more videos and posted +6% more comments than the average Joost user who has not connected his or her account.

--What's more, Joost's Facebook Connect users have invited +8% more friends, and have joined +16% more groups on average. 

While Facebook Connect has demonstrated how social networking and video work together, Joost, the much anticipated video site, has fallen on hard times.  According to Nielsen, unique page views for Joost has dropped to 152,000 unique monthly viewers, down from 586,000 in June, a drop of -74%.

Television has Gone Social

The online video industry is moving closer to Facebook.  The latest example is ABC.com for its  "V" program. CBS.com has an initiative around CSI and the recent offering by Hulu.

Great piece in Advertising Age by Brian Steinberg on this trend.  He uses the term "Social TV."

Randi Zuckerberg on Beet.TV

We were pleased to hook up with Randi Zuckerberg last week in San Francisco, where she was a speaker at the NewTeeVee Live event.  We have published our video today.

Update: Nielsen reports that Facebook is the third largest video site, according to NewTeeVee.

Andy Plesser, Executive Producer