Lindsay Woods: Seeking genuine engagement from social media use

A curious little incident occurred towards the end of last year. It coincided with the release of the second series of Doctor Foster.

For those who have not viewed the show, it followed the sensational Suranne Jones who portrayed the lead character of Dr Gemma Foster, a GP who discovers that her odious husband is having an affair. That’s basically it in a nutshell.

It was bloody gripping and such was the vitriol that I hurled at the screen when Simon (Gemma’s husband) appeared, that my own husband would turn on his heel as I sprayed insults in the direction of the telly box.

Tired of expressing my exasperation at Simon’s antics to the cat (she’s not the greatest of conversationalists) I took to ‘stories’ on Instagram. What followed not only took me by surprise but gave me a significant case of the warm and fuzzies.

What began as a way to vent my frustration in lieu of credible conversation from the feline, turned into a ‘club’ of sorts.

For just over an hour each week, we all assembled on our sofas, remote in one hand, phone in the other and traded quips and general banter while bemoaning the lack of any moral compass on Simon’s part. It very quickly gathered momentum.

As each Tuesday rolled around, I would be greeted with various messages from people detailing what they had planned for their ‘sofa snacks’ that evening.

I cannot tell you the number of photos sent to me from the Food Hall in Marks & Spencer; ‘I’m buying the notions cheese for tonight!’ or ‘I’ve gone for the posh crisps and the extra-large sushi platter because Himself will be out kicking a ball around!’ My favourite was the person who purchased the same snack each week: a single Walnut Whip and a nice bottle of red, accompanied by the message, ‘I’m so looking forward to tonight!’

Mid-way through the series, as numbers began to steadily increase in relation to the number of people who joined (at peak, there were just shy of 1,000 joining us via ‘stories’), it dawned on me that this is what people were seeking from their use of social media; a connection. A genuine engagement. Without any agenda, links, hashtags or affiliates.

A temporary moniker was bestowed upon us, ‘The Fosterettes’, in homage to the show which had brought us together. As the series drew to a close, I wondered how best to carry on the momentum, ie a space where for one hour a week, individuals could log in and have a chat with a common denominator that wasn’t under the guise of selling or promoting products or services.

It made me think of the days prior to the current, hyper-accelerated social platforms when all you had was an over-worked dial up connection and the hope that someone would say ‘Hi’, in one of the chat rooms so you could be part of the conversation.

The series ended, and the weeks slipped by. I continued to receive messages along the lines of, ‘I miss Tuesday nights on the sofa!’ But it wasn’t until an encounter a few weeks later that made me think that it might be worth resurrecting ‘The Telly Club’ after all.

I was knee deep, in all the florescent tat, attempting to choose a birthday present for a six-year-old when a woman stood alongside me.

We gave each other a consolatory nod, the one parents reserve for each other when stuck in veritable toy warehouses, before I turned back to the shelf housing dolls dressed in lurid colours with names incorporating various food-related words such as ‘cheesecake’ and ‘popcorn’. The woman then leaned in and in a low whisper said, ‘I’m one of The Fosterettes!’

A skip, hop and a jump into February and similar requests to revive our little viewing party has made me adamant to do just that.

To re-establish that connection with people. From that one hour each week, people have gone on to forge their own connections.

All it took was a little nudge, ‘Have you met so and so, I think you would really get on?’ I still receive messages of ‘notions’ snacks at least once every couple of days with the accompanying text, ‘I’m saving these for when the Telly Club starts again!’

So, that’s what I’m going to do. Bring it back. We are currently accepting submissions for shows to view (that’s very official club lingo!) and there may have been a suggestion of official badges thrown about; but I can’t promise anything along those lines… yet! Join us on Instagram, bring yourself, some snacks and a devil-may-care attitude. I’ll see you there.

Find The Telly Club on Instagram each week @manolomummy