Hulu’s got a lot working in its favor: good content, high-quality clips, and the whole it’s-actually-legal thing. Now, both users and advertisers should be happy to hear that the video site is gaining a social component, too.
Hulu Friends packs in several social networking options designed to connect people – think creating profiles, inviting friends, and recommending shows, for starters. This might help folks grow a little more fond of the service.
It’ll also probably bring fresh users aboard, and lead to people watching more videos and seeing more ads. After all, if someone’s raving about a new series, at least a few of his or her pals are likely to check it out and sit through the 30-second interruptions.
Hulu Friends isn’t going to amaze everyone, however. For example: there doesn’t seem to be any sort of chat component that’d let buddies ROFL their way through an episode of “Arrested Development” together.
Also, to be honest, there may be a lot of people who simply won’t want to deal with social stuff beyond their existing profiles on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.
Anyway, a hat tip goes to Eliot Van Buskirk, and we’ll monitor how this works out as Hulu continues to catch up to YouTube in terms of videos streamed per month.
