Social “check-in” service GetGlue waited until nearly halfway through January to release its 2011 infographics. That same day, it closed a $12M round of financing led by Rho Ventures, with participation from TimeWarner Investments, RRE Ventures and Union Square Ventures. At the end of 2011, GetGlue hit two million users and logged 100 million check-ins. The site is only two years old, yet it has grown 1000% year over year. The million user mark came in April 2011. From just January to September 2011,it saw an 800% increase.
GetGlue is a service that lets users “check-in” to watching TV shows, reading books and listening to music. In 2011, it added a visual stream, real-time convos and personalized guides to shows, movies and artists. The conversation tab brings up chats that users are having in real-time about the same show, movie or artist. It’s a natural opportunity for the “water cooler”-type conversation.
GetGlue users openly share their feelings about entertainment, especially when it comes to popular shows and movies. Social TV is centered around emotional experiences, and GetGlue users love to talk about feelings.
At this year’s CES, we looked at how web connectivity, time-shifting content and “second screens” will affect social TV. Of the 10 social apps that Facebook announced, seven of those were mostly focused on social TV. Beyond Vegas, Boxee announced a new partnership with Facebook for sharing shows and videos. But before all that, there was GetGlue.
Perhaps the future of social TV is already here.
