How social media helped hype The Walking Dead season 1

When The Walking Dead premiered in 2010, social media buzz was at a fever pitch

These days, when a new show comes to life it seems like there is already an established social media fan club at the ready. When The Walking Dead season 1 premiered on Halloween in 2010, no one really knew what was going to happen. Would the show find an audience? Looking back, social media allowed fans from around the world to talk about the show and build hype for it, and thus the TWD Family was born.

Though The Walking Dead hasn’t been around as long as massive franchises like Star Trek or Star Wars, the TWD fandom is as strong as those long standing fandoms and just as active. Fans have their own online communities and meet up at conventions all over the world. The TWD Family is a global community that has grown exponentially over the past decade.

It was this global fan community that helped The Walking Dead season 1 to become as popular as it became. The little zombie show that turned into must-watch television and a pop culture institution because people couldn’t stop talking about it, and in season 1 the conversations went beyond the office water coolers to social media, where it caught the attention of people who hadn’t seen the show.

Social media, then, was a driving force that helped The Walking Dead become what it ultimately became, and in the process it created a worldwide community that has set the bar very high for fandoms.

Fast forward ten years and The Walking Dead franchise is growing by leaps and bounds. Every day there are new fans who come into the fold after discovering the show, and when those new fans discover this thriving online community they bring fresh perspectives that enhance the fan experience for everyone.

There’s no question that social media played a big role in The Walking Dead’s early success, and now it plays a big role in uniting the worldwide fandom.