# Social viewing
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{{short description|Media viewing practice}}
{{redirects|Watch party|the generic term|Social aspects of television}}
{{update|date=July 2022}}
'''Social viewing''' is the recent practice of multiple users viewing [online](/source/online) [video](/source/video)s together and exchanging commentary. Typically, the experience also involves some form of [instant messaging](/source/Instant_messaging_%26_messengers) or [communication](/source/communication) to facilitate discussion pertaining to the common viewing experience.
[Amazon Prime Video](/source/Amazon_Prime_Video) and [Hulu](/source/Hulu) use the branded term '''Watch Party''' for such a practice on its services,[[http://www.view2gether.com/ View2gether – Welcome to Social Viewing] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213230139/http://www.view2gether.com/ |date=2007-12-13 }}] which has created proprietary technology for aggregating content from sources not controlled by the user for synchronized play and inclusion in common [playlist](/source/playlist)s by multiple participants with a commensurate instant messaging chat function. Other sites which provide similar functionality include Oortle (Photophlow),[[http://oortle.com/ Oortle home page] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080429201312/http://www.oortle.com/ |date=2008-04-29 }}] [SeeToo](/source/SeeToo)[{{Cite web |url=http://www.seetoo.com/ |title=SeeToo home page |access-date=2008-04-25 |archive-date=2008-04-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430145431/http://www.seetoo.com/ |url-status=live }}] and development of social viewing for existing portals such as Yahoo have recently been announced.[[http://timetags.research.yahoo.com/zync/ Zync from Yahoo! Research Berkeley] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610232321/http://timetags.research.yahoo.com/zync/ |date=2008-06-10 }}]
The term has been used in some cases to describe online viewing within the framework of a social network,[{{Cite web|url = http://paidcontent.org/article/419-bebo-launches-open-media-platform-for-social-viewing-22-tv-partners/|title = Bebo Launches Open Media Platform for Social Viewing; 22 TV Partners|date = 13 November 2007|access-date = 5 November 2009|archive-date = 10 December 2009|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091210220212/http://paidcontent.org/article/419-bebo-launches-open-media-platform-for-social-viewing-22-tv-partners/|url-status = live}}] however View2gether and similar sites have reconfigured the term to mean a common viewing experience as a social activity. Websites such as [Rabb.it](/source/Rabb.it) utilized a virtual computer with a shared browser, allowing for access to sites outside of the ones whitelisted by other viewers.[{{Cite web |last=Ravenscraft |first=Eric |date=2015-01-08 |title=Rabbit Lets You Watch Netflix, YouTube, Browse the Web with Friends |url=https://lifehacker.com/rabbit-lets-you-watch-netflix-youtube-browse-the-web-1678199419 |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Lifehacker |language=en}}]
Social viewing has also been used in the past to describe activities such as gathering for the viewing of particular [television program](/source/television_program)s, such as [soap opera](/source/soap_opera)s.[{{Cite journal |last=Tager |first=M. |date=1 December 2004 |title=Soap opera viewing in a communal context: an ethnographic examination of the viewing experiences of black Zulu-speaking students living in university residences |url=https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/EJC27654 |journal=Communicare: Journal for Communication Sciences in Southern Africa |publication-date=December 2004 |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=1–20 |access-date=31 August 2022 |archive-date=31 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831140550/https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/EJC27654 |url-status=live }}]
Some examples of modern social viewing sites include [Twitch](/source/Twitch_(service)), [YouTube](/source/YouTube), [Facebook](/source/Facebook), [TikTok](/source/TikTok), [Instagram](/source/Instagram), [Zoom](/source/Zoom_(software)), and [Twitter](/source/Twitter).
It was also officially added as a built-in feature in some [over-the-top media service](/source/over-the-top_media_service)s in various names. While Amazon and Hulu both call it Watch Party,[{{cite web| url=https://www.amazon.com/adlp/watchparty| title=Prime Video Watch Party: Stream TV & Movies With Friends| publisher=[Amazon](/source/Amazon_(company))| accessdate=2022-07-10| archive-date=2022-07-10| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710153521/https://www.amazon.com/adlp/watchparty| url-status=live}}][{{cite web| url=https://help.hulu.com/s/article/watch-party| title=Hulu Watch Party| publisher=[Hulu](/source/Hulu)| accessdate=2022-07-10| archive-date=2022-07-10| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710153523/https://help.hulu.com/s/article/watch-party| url-status=live}}] Disney+ (which offers it only in some countries) calls it GroupWatch,[{{cite web| url=https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/29/disney-plus-groupwatch/| title=Disney+ adds a co-watching feature called GroupWatch| publisher=[TechCrunch](/source/TechCrunch)| date=2020-09-29| accessdate=2022-07-10| archive-date=2022-07-10| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710153521/https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/29/disney-plus-groupwatch/| url-status=live}}] which launched in 2020, but in 2023 was removed.[{{Cite web |last=Reul |first=Katie |date=2023-09-21 |title=Disney Plus Subscribers Mourn the Quiet Removal of the GroupWatch Feature |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/disney-plus-subscribers-mourn-the-quiet-removal-of-the-groupwatch-feature |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=IGN |language=en}}]
== Social viewing experience ==
With social viewing technologies, media can be watched live alongside other viewers. Features such as built-in chats allow for communication to be sustained, facilitating real-time discussion of the content.[{{Cite journal|last=Rothe|first=Sylvia|title=Social viewing in cinematic virtual reality: a design space for social movie applications|journal=Virtual Reality|year=2020|volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=613–630 |doi=10.1007/s10055-020-00472-4|doi-access=free}}][{{Cite journal|last=Boronat|first=Fernando|title=Wersync: A web platform for synchronized social viewing enabling interaction and collaboration|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1084804520303970|journal= Journal of Network and Computer Applications|year=2021|volume=175|article-number=102939|doi=10.1016/j.jnca.2020.102939 | issn=1084-8045 |hdl=10251/189731|s2cid=230571472 |hdl-access=free}}] A limitation that could be improved upon is the synchronization between users, as a mismatch in position of media may cause issues in understanding scenes between users in the same instance.[{{Cite journal|last=Marfil|first=Dani|title=Enhancing the Broadcasted TV Consumption Experience With Broadband Omnidirectional Video Content|journal=IEEE Access|year=2019|volume=7|pages=171864–171883|doi=10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2956084|doi-access=free|bibcode=2019IEEEA...7q1864M |s2cid=209322718|hdl=10251/156562|hdl-access=free}}]
== Notes and references ==
{{reflist}}
== External links==
* [https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-host-a-virtual-watch-party/ How to Host a Virtual Watch Party] September 29, 2020 [Wired](/source/Wired_(magazine)) article by Boone Ashworth
Category:Technology in society
Category:Video on demand
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Social viewing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_viewing) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_viewing?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.