A panel of experts visits UGA to talk about the television and computer

According to a group of experts that visited the University of Georgia on Friday, there is more information about the primetime TV show Lost than there is porn.

Although this may not have gotten the direct message across, it shocked the audience that were at UGA's Miller Learning Center to attend a discussion on television and the computer. Led by Horace Newcomb, who is director of the Peabody Awards, the event had five panelists with two critics and three members of universities around the US that study how television and the computer affect each other.

One opinion shared by all five panelists and Newcomb was the idea that social networking sites online are affected by primetime TV. "Half of the top topics on Twitter are about television," Alisa Perren said. Perren also mentions the "race to a million followers" between Ashton Kutcher and CNN. "Both Kutcher and CNN found themselves on TV, so they are affecting the internet like every other TV personality through this race."

Twitter is not the only social networking site that combines television and the internet. On April 12, thousands of people used the status feature on Facebook to let others know about Susan Boyle and the YouTube video that came from her performance of Britain's Got Talent. Boyle is the 47-year-old woman who made her debut and shocked millions around the world by singing a song from Les Miserables called “I Dreamed a Dream.”

With Susan Boyle having over 15 million hits on YouTube, "this is a great example of a viral video," said Aaron Barnhart, a panelist and TV critic of http://www.tvbarn.com/. He mentions that a viral video "are blowing up" and becoming a lot more powerful recently.

Maureen Ryan, a TV critic for the Chicago Tribune, talks about the idea that discussions and people’s comments to these discussions are becoming “viral” as well. “People get really passionate about shows and the online discussion,” Ryan said. “Blogs add a level of experience to TV.”

Barnhart agrees with Ryan, although he thinks that the possibility of discussion on the internet about popular TV shows is a great addition to the connection between the audience and the critics. “People’s comments challenge us and how we are going to move forward in our jobs,” Barnhart said. “From the last two or three years, I am finally beginning to get this, as opposed to the 10 years before this.”

Another aspect to the internet is the idea that one can watch television shows online at their convenience. Hulu has become a major site where people are looking to view their favorite shows for free.

Because of the possibility for these discussions and the ability to watch popular TV shows online, some think that eventually the television will become outdated. However, according to Amanda Lotz, a panelist from the University of Michigan, people are using computers and televisions differently. “The idea that TVs are going to be obsolete in a few years is stupid,” she said. “It really depends on what works best at the time.”

Twitter and other social networking sites have actually caused more viewers to watch popular shows in real time on TVs. According to Perren, “Twitter and Facebook stimulate your mind and make you think about what you are watching and because other people’s responses are immediate, they are causing more people to watch the show while it is being aired.”

Despite all of the research done on this technology of the 21st century, the experts of the panel along with Newcomb can only come to one conclusion. This conclusion is that they know nothing. "We don't have answers about anything."