NBC Goes Social with Fan It Website

NBC's PR department is about to get a lot of help thanks to their new social site "Fan It." When you join the site you get paid in points for doing things like watching videos and responding to surveys. You get even more points if you hook up your Facebook, Twitter or other social media accounts so NBC get spread the word through your name.

The promise is that when you collect enough points, you can redeem them for prizes. Right now those prizes are badges for your profile (Whoo hoo!) and it looks like discount codes and videos will be next. There is a level for actual merchandise but it's not available yet.

I love sites like these and I'm happy to join in the competition to rise to the top of the leaderboard by doing what I do anyway - watch and talk about TV. What I didn't like was a command I saw when I went to hook my Facebook to to Fan It.

• Post to my Wall

  Fan it may post status messages, notes, photos, and videos to my Wall
• Access my data any time

  Fan it may access my data when I'm not using the application

It's an all or nothing choice and that second one made me nervous enough not to click it. Seriously, Fan It may access my data when I'm NOT using the application. Isn't that giving them a pass to post anything they want to my account? Sorry, no.

The other downside is you don't get points for participating in the forums. I imagine that would be too hard to monitor but it seems a shame since that's more participatory than just watching a video.

I also find it very humorous that they refer to every action as a Challenge! Take the Chase Challenge (in other words, watch the video!)

Right now, the biggest hurtle for me is that I don't watch that many shows on NBC. That could change this fall when Chase, The Event and Undercovers premiere. We'll see. . . we'll see. . .

Photo: Colorful cabs flood NYC in honor of the NBC Upfronts