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Local Theaters Implement “Tweet Seats” to Draw Younger, Social Media-Savvy Crowds

Image via LA Times

You live-tweet just about everything in your daily life, from your morning MBTA commute to which brews you’re drinking to where you went grocery shopping this weekend. Now, theaters nationwide have caught onto the trend and are beginning to cater to tweeters, with some Massachusetts theaters getting in on the action. According to a recent article in the Boston Globe, the Lowell Memorial Auditorium, the Lyric Stage Company of Boston, the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts in Worcester and the Central Square Theater in Cambridge are among those looking to implement “tweet seats” in 2012.

At a time when theater membership numbers are falling, theaters are turning to social media-savvy users to help bolster their ticket sales. The Twitter interactions come in many different forms – from tweeting questions to cast members at intermission, which The Boston Lyric Opera recently tested, to live-tweeting entire performances via a designated hashtag.

As expected, some theatergoers and purists are concerned encouraging tweeting throughout a show could be distracting and draw attention away from the stage. In response, some theaters have created designated “tweet seats,” a special area of the audience where tweeters can sit together and type away on their smartphones without fear of disturbing other customers.

For the theaters, live-tweeting adds another form of marketing for their shows. In 2012, the Boston Ballet will give free seats to handpicked tweeters with presumably large followings who they can trust to provide reliable, thoughtful Twitter updates throughout the performance.

Some theaters are also hoping the tweet seats will draw in a younger, social media-savvy crowd. Elisa Hale, the public relations manager at the Norma Terris Theatre in Connecticut said theaters must allow tweeting in order to pull in a younger generation. “You’re talking about people who can barely help themselves from texting while they’re driving,’’ she told the Globe.

While that seems like an extreme blanket statement, I do think tweet seats are a pretty cool idea. For those that have resorted to discreetly updating a status from their purse or doing the one-handed tweet in their coat pocket, tweet seats would be a welcomed idea. Tweet seats also prove that the theaters can be fun and interactive, not just some stuffy, boring show that only your grandma would enjoy. So, the next time your girlfriend asks you to take her to the ballet, you have no excuse to say no. Just make sure actually pick a place that encourages tweeting – you don’t want to get kicked out for those 140 characters.

What do you think of tweet seats? Would you be more apt to go to the theater if you could tweet throughout?

from BostInno http://bostinno.com/2011/12/28/local-theaters-implement-tweet-seats-to-draw-y...