Social interaction features for mobile TV services

This paper explores social interaction features for Mobile Broadcast TV services. On behalf of a paired user study we evaluate peer interaction enablers such as text- and audio-chat, synchronized zapping and "See-what-I-see" messages in different contexts. We discuss their impact on the Mobile TV user experience and provide guidance on the design of Social Mobile TV services. Our results show that social features do enrich the mobile video experience despite inherent distraction potential. However, successful integration depends on effectively addressing the prevailing mobile terminal interface limitations as well as the diverse skill-levels and communication preferences of mobile users.