Get Paid to Watch TV: Viggle Revisited

I previously posted about how you can get paid to watch TV using the iOS app Viggle, and I wanted to take a second look at how the company is doing. I’m personally still using the app, and I’ve made over $30 from checking in to TV shows. I don’t see any way I’ll hit the $550 reward limit for a year period at this rate, which makes me wonder if I could be using the app more effectively. Featured shows are given more points, and I would be interested to know what sort of contracts shows such as American Idol have with Viggle to be listed as “featured” on the app. 


An announcement was made at the Ad Age Social Engagement / Social TV Conference that Viggle has reached 625,000 users, and 142 million engagements have taken place on the app. Users check in to the app an average of five times a day, and interact with an average of 15 videos and games presented while the app is open. I use this feature now and then, but as a user I haven’t seen a lot of reasons to use the app other than for the check-ins. Nevertheless, I imagine that these statistics present a great case for companies advertising through Viggle, and for shows to get listed in the featured placement area available on the app.  


I think it’s good timing on the company’s part to release Viggle for Android fresh on the heels of releasing announcements of successful user engagement. Granted the current Android version is only a beta release, the Android market makes up a significant market share that has remained untouched by Viggle up to this point. I’ve told a few of my friends about this app, only to have them upset it wasn’t available for their Android device yet, so it’s good to see that more people will have access to this cool rewards based TV check-in program.

Facebook IPO Updates

I previously posted about the Facebook IPO, and now Facebook has updated its S-1 filling with the SEC. People looking to invest in the company are now starting off at $28 to $35 per share, according to the recent SEC filing. Facebook could raise $11.8 billion, making it the largest Internet IPO ever. 


The CBS article also mentions Facebook’s purchase of Instagram for $1 billion. I think the fact that the company has that kind of money to throw around, plus the fact that Mark Zuckerberg made the deal on his own without consulting his team, shows the company is experiencing good fortune. 

WealthWire.com 2012

http://www.wealthwire.com/news/equities/2601

My original post was about people getting rich from the Facebook IPO, but I wonder if it will be the case. I think the Instagram acquisition is major, since I’ve seen a lot of use of that app recently. But did people like it because it was different than Facebook? Did they identify with the Instagram brand? How will the future user experience compare to how users currently share images? If users need to log in to Facebook to use Instagram, I could potentially see it decreasing in popularity. 


An article at Wealth Wire suggests that buyers avoid the Facebook IPO, at least for now. Jim Rogers thinks that Facebook has timed out every aspect of the IPO, and plans to capitalize on buyers willing to purchase expensive stocks. Rogers says he doesn’t buy expensive stocks, and plans to avoid Facebook’s as well. The article goes on to list a few other sources raising similar concerns, and I suggest anyone looking to spend a lot of money on Facebook stock take a look before investing a considerable amount of money. 


One thing I wonder about is the market saturation of Facebook. How many people out there on the Internet are not on Facebook yet? Are there so many people using Facebook already that people are bound to start looking for the next big thing soon? Or is Facebook here to stay? Will enough new additions and partnerships, like the Instagram acquisition, be enough to keep users interested? I personally think Facebook will be around for a while, but I’m going to wait before I spend any significant money on their stock.