Before Social Media, We Had Nickelodeon
By: Jitter Garcia
Mashable’s Top Twitter Trends of this week proved that nostalgia sells in the new millennium. Last week’s rebroadcast of old Nickelodeon shows attracted thousands of twenty-something viewers and doubled TeenNick’s prior ratings in the early morning time slot. What they are calling, “The ‘90s Are All That” features episodes from much beloved shows like “All That,” “Doug,” “Kenan & Kel,” and “Clarissa Explains It All.”
The popularity of TeenNick spiked after the channel responded to many fans’ requests to re-air the episodes. A brilliant media campaign to gain more viewers, the channel’s use of social media had a huge impact on its success. The role of social media helped make the fans’ requests a reality, with a number of Facebook groups and pages being created by twenty-somethings who thought the old Nickelodeon shows of their childhood were much better than shows on TV now. And when TeenNick finally responded with the rebroadcast, status updates and tweets were overtaken by joyful exclamations and reminiscent memories of the fans’ favorite shows. The Facebook page likes and group members have risen to a staggering 15 million after the programming block last week, and according to TeenNick, fans had doubled overnight.
With the initial excitement of the programming block now shifting to a “We want more!” kind of enthusiasm, fans are now requesting for more shows in addition to the four that rebroadcasted. Tweets and status updates are still aflutter with the possibility of seeing more favorite TV shows, and more and more blogs are harking back to the ‘90s with themed blog posts like Where Are They Now? Nickelodeon’s Leading Ladies of the ‘90s. Looks like the ‘90s aren’t just making a comeback, the ‘90s have arrived.