Academy Awards 2013: And The Oscar Goes To… Mobile

Tonight isn’t just Hollywood’s biggest night. It’s also a pretty big night for mobile devices and social media. In fact, when it comes to entertainment and award shows, mobile and social media are poised to have a marriage that will probably outlast most of those in Hollywood.

So important are mobile and social to the entertainment industry today that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is flat-out asking celebrities to tweet during the Oscars ceremony tonight. You know… kind of like members of Congress tweeting during the State of The Union address, except from prettier people.

The AMPAS has even established an area for stars to take exclusive photos of themselves backstage at tonight’s show, purely for the immediacy of online and mobile watchers.

The so-called “Magic Mirror” will take photo-booth-style pictures and push them directly out to the academy’s official Twitter account.

“Social media is now mainstream,” asserts Christina Kounelias, chief marketing officer for the academy.

For the Academy this year, what fans experience on the second-screen needs to be just as engaging as what they find on the traditional television screen.

“We’re not doing social media to reach out to young kids,” adds the Academy’s digital media director, Josh Spector. “We’re doing it to connect with all Oscar fans.”

What role is mobile playing in your Oscars experience tonight?