{{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 videos together and exchanging commentary. Typically, the experience also involves some form of instant messaging or communication to facilitate discussion pertaining to the common viewing experience.
Amazon Prime Video and Hulu use the branded term '''Watch Party''' for such a practice on its services,<ref name="amazon" /><ref name="hulu" /> while Disney+ calls it '''GroupWatch'''.<ref name="disney" />
==History== The term in this context originated with the Toronto and Los Angeles-based company View2Gether<ref>[http://www.view2gether.com/ View2gether – Welcome to Social Viewing<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213230139/http://www.view2gether.com/ |date=2007-12-13 }}</ref> which has created proprietary technology for aggregating content from sources not controlled by the user for synchronized play and inclusion in common playlists by multiple participants with a commensurate instant messaging chat function. Other sites which provide similar functionality include Oortle (Photophlow),<ref>[http://oortle.com/ Oortle home page] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080429201312/http://www.oortle.com/ |date=2008-04-29 }}</ref> SeeToo<ref>{{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 }}</ref> and development of social viewing for existing portals such as Yahoo have recently been announced.<ref>[http://timetags.research.yahoo.com/zync/ Zync from Yahoo! Research Berkeley<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610232321/http://timetags.research.yahoo.com/zync/ |date=2008-06-10 }}</ref>
The term has been used in some cases to describe online viewing within the framework of a social network,<ref>{{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}}</ref> however View2gether and similar sites have reconfigured the term to mean a common viewing experience as a social activity. Websites such as Rabb.it utilized a virtual computer with a shared browser, allowing for access to sites outside of the ones whitelisted by other viewers.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
Social viewing has also been used in the past to describe activities such as gathering for the viewing of particular television programs, such as soap operas.<ref>{{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 }}</ref>
Some examples of modern social viewing sites include Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Zoom, and Twitter.
It was also officially added as a built-in feature in some over-the-top media services in various names. While Amazon and Hulu both call it Watch Party,<ref name="amazon">{{cite web| url=https://www.amazon.com/adlp/watchparty| title=Prime Video Watch Party: Stream TV & Movies With Friends| publisher=Amazon| 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}}</ref><ref name="hulu">{{cite web| url=https://help.hulu.com/s/article/watch-party| title=Hulu Watch Party| publisher=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}}</ref> Disney+ (which offers it only in some countries) calls it GroupWatch,<ref name="disney">{{cite web| url=https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/29/disney-plus-groupwatch/| title=Disney+ adds a co-watching feature called GroupWatch| publisher=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}}</ref> which launched in 2020, but in 2023 was removed.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
== 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
== 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 article by Boone Ashworth
Category:Technology in society Category:Video on demand