Twitter Ignores the Emmys: Show Falls Flat Across Social Media

Jimmy Kimmel and Tracy Morgan set Twitter ablaze — but only by asking for it

Jimmy Kimmel and Tracy Morgan lit up Twitter on Sunday night with a stunt asking audiences to tweet about Morgan passing out on stage (he faked it).

Though the gimmick fell flat on the comedy front, perhaps every presenter at the Emmys should have pleaded with the Twitter set as well.

The 2012 Emmys flopped on the social media front in comparison to this year’s other prominent awards shows.

While the Grammys, Video Music Awards and the BET Awards set new records across Twitter, Facebook and assorted TV companion apps like GetGlue, the Grammys registered a stultifying 1.56 million interactions throughout the day, according to data from analytics firm Trendrr. According to Bluefin Labs, the figure was even more pedestrian – 1 million comments.

Also Read: MTV's Video Music Awards: The Most Social TV Event of All-Time? 

Both numbers represent increases from the year before, but all of television has grown thanks to increased adoption of social media and stronger measurement tools.

Here's a list of the most social awards show from 2012, according to Trendrr:

Award Show Tentpoles 2012 –  Total Daily Activity

–          2012 MTV Video Music Awards             MTV           19,175,032

–          The 54th Annual Grammy Awards         CBS           17,122,100

–          The BET Awards '12                              BET            10,128,701

–          The 84th Annual Academy Awards        ABC             4,477,654

–          Teen Choice 2012                                 FOX             2,398,483

–          Emmy Awards                                        ABC             1,568,381

–          2012 MTV Movie Awards                       MTV            1,540,373

–          Kids' Choice Awards                               Nick            1,511,403

–          Billboard Music Awards                          ABC            1,391,706

–          Premios Juventud                                Univision        938,137

Bluefin Labs

The difference is in degree of growth. This year’s Grammy Awards generated roughly seven times more social interaction than last year’s show, according to Trendrr. The Emmys? About one and a half times as much.

By and large, the legacy Hollywood awards shows — Oscars, Golden Globes and Emmys — are less social than their youthful, more music-centric cousins.

Regardless of what you think about social media metrics, the difference is stark. While both the VMAs and Grammys topped 10 million interaction, the Oscars and Emmys combined failed to reach double digits.

As for the Emmy show itself, the buzz was concentrated around moments like the Kimmel-Morgan stunt, Aaron Paul’s win for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama and Damian Lewis’ Best Actor triumph.

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