Tagging for TV: Design Document

Abstract

In recent years, television has developed from a limited set of shows constrained by a fixed timeslot into a veritable viewer’s choice of channels, shows, and times. In addition, we have seen the rise of the complex episodic series that encourages replay. Meanwhile, the Internet has grown into a media-rich, customizable experience for users who have become familiar with the concept of tagging items with keywords to foster the organization of a network. Broadcast has begun to merge with broadband in many forms, but viewers still have little to help them navigate through a show. This project, Tagging for TV, brings tagging from the Internet to television as a social, viewer-generated means of organizing data.