A group of actors live-tweeting together in one place is nothing new, but the cast and crew of @Nashville_ABC decided to make it an event.
They rented a bus in the city of Nashville to live-tweet the October 23 episode. Throughout the evening, they toured Nashville, met fans, and of course, tweeted often. Here’s what live-tweeting on a swanky bus looked like:
Nashville Twitter bus! In action in 15 minutes! #AskNashville pic.twitter.com/QrFmFl6yVt
— Chris Carmack ( @RealCarmack) October 24, 2013
More significant, perhaps, was the number of people associated with the show who were live-tweeting on the bus. @Nashville_ABC gave a shout-out to the talent:
Live Tweet Cast Role Call #AskNashville: @EricRClose @RealCarmack @Heyjude629 @theoliverhudson @CharlesEsten @aubreypeeples @haydenpanettier
— Nashville ( @Nashville_ABC) October 24, 2013
Live Tweet Crew Role Call #AskNashville: Meet some of the writers and producers for #Nashville @NashvilleWrites @CallieKhouri @MerLavender
— Nashville ( @Nashville_ABC) October 24, 2013
And the effort worked: a 30% growth in the number of Tweets about the show between that night’s episode from the week before, according to SocialGuide’s Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings. The 15,000 Tweets about the show were seen 1.4 million times. Not surprisingly, it ranked as @ABCNetwork’s most social event of the night.
How it came together
First came direct promotion: The cast, crew and network all tweeted about the event ahead of the episode’s airing. Producer @GeoffreyColo tweeted out an announcement of the live-tweeting event along with a photo of the official Nashville Twitter bus.
All hail the #Nashville Twitter Bus. Launching tomorrow night #asknashville pic.twitter.com/Kb9DACs3Cz
— Geoffrey Colo ( @GeoffreyColo) October 22, 2013
Two hours before the episode started, @Nashville_ABC tweeted out a Vine video of star Connie Britton thanking fans for watching.
#Nashville’s Connie Britton has a very special message for you! 2 more hours!!! https://t.co/shH6Ep5Jzz
— Nashville ( @Nashville_ABC) October 24, 2013
Country singer @carrieunderwood tweeted her excitement for @Nashville_ABC and a special surprise in that night’s episode. The post was the most retweeted of the night.
I hear @Nashville_ABC has a grand ole surprise in store for us tonight! Can’t wait to watch! #Nashville
— Carrie Underwood ( @carrieunderwood) October 24, 2013
The Grand Ole Opry (@opry) was also in on the secret.
Rumor has it there is a big surprise on @Nashville_ABC tonight! What do you think is happening here? #Nashville pic.twitter.com/YVdmg6uykK
— Grand Ole Opry ( @opry) October 23, 2013
The live event
The cast and crew answered questions via the hashtag #AskNashville, provided trivia about the episode, and conversed and complimented each other. For instance, when #Nashville creator @CallieKhouri requested photos, co-executive producer and writer Meredith Lavender (@MerLavender) was more than happy to oblige:
@CallieKhouri will this do???? pic.twitter.com/HtQM0Mes4W
— Meredith Lavender ( @MerLavender) October 24, 2013
The writers revealed the inspiration for a climactic moment in the episode.
Rayna did it y’all! This moment was inspired by Miranda Lambert singing The House That Built Me during the Healing in the Heartland concert.
— Nashville Writers ( @NashvilleWrites) October 24, 2013
When her character received an honor, @haydenpanettier tweeted about it.
An invitation to the Opry is the highest fake honor I’ve ever received lol #AskNashvile
— hayden panettiere ( @haydenpanettier) October 24, 2013
When the episode was over, @Nashville_ABC thanked its fans for watching
Thank you for watching #Nashville tonight! All new episode next Wed at 10|9c on ABC! #WelcomeBackRayna
— Nashville ( @Nashville_ABC) October 24, 2013
For good measure, @haydenpanettier thanked the bus company.
Thank you @premieretrans for your hospitality tonight! #AskNashvile
— hayden panettiere ( @haydenpanettier) October 24, 2013
The data
The live-tweeting event also brought about a surge of followers to the participants accounts. Twitter data shows that actor @CharlesEsten saw an 8% increase in followers, his biggest one-day increase in followers since the show’s premiere.
Join us in 3 hours as we live tweet all over ‘This Town’. #AskNashville #TwitterBus http://t.co/jzqe0AuZ2d
— Charles Esten ( @CharlesEsten) October 23, 2013
Actress Judith Hoag (@Heyjude629) also boosted her follower count by 8%, while episode writer Dana Greenblatt (@HotSpinsterAunt) went from 90 followers to 194, a 116% increase, over the course of two days.
Tonight’s ep of Nashville was written by @HotSpinsterAunt. She’ll be livetweeting the episode & so we will. Be sure to watch live at 10/9c!
— Nashville Writers ( @NashvilleWrites) October 23, 2013
By engaging large numbers of cast members on Twitter, the #Nashville live Tweet session was a way for fans to meet all the talent associated with their favorite show in one place at one time. Staging the event on a bus was an added twist.
Do you know of other innovative uses of Twitter? Write to mediablog@twitter.com.