Thoroughly Modern Corrie – Weatherfield in the age of Social Media

What really struck me about Jenny Bradley’s return is how much Weatherfield has changed since her last visit. And last Wednesday’s episode – the vehicle for her reappearance – drove the point home faster than a Ferrari that had just passed its MOT at Websters' Auto Centre.

For starters – before sharing a pudding – Kevin and Jenny found each other through an online dating site, now an extremely common way of meeting people but virtually (pardon the pun) unheard of twenty years ago.

“Anyone can look good on t’internet”, teased Tyrone but luckily for Kev, Jenny looks just like her profile picture – “which is always a bonus!” Tyrone, however, looks nothing like the David Beckham pic on his Tinder profile, or so went the pre-date banter in the Garage.

Elsewhere, Sean’s Social Media strategy to promote his homemade biryani proved somewhat counter-productive:

“Don’t get me wrong – it was a very nice biryani – but once I’d Tweeted it, Instagrammed it, done a Vine of it and Snapchatted it – the blessed thing had gone cold!”

I only use one of those sites (Twitter – and not enough) and so the zeitgeist buzzwords were largely lost on me. But it did make me ponder and then chuckle about what my Grandparents would think of all the modern references.

It’s a changing world – indeed the only constant is change – and it’s fascinating to consider how different the world of Weatherfield is now compared to how it was ten, twenty, thirty, forty and fifty years ago.

If Jenny Bradley had fallen pregnant under Rita’s roof, for example, I can’t imagine she would have announced, “I’m having a baby LOL”.

Faye’s remark about texting the truth to Anna was another reminder of this modern world we live in. In fact, wasn’t it a Facebook rumour that first alerted Craig to the fact Faye could use a friend?

Next week I reckon Nozzer will download Foursquare onto his Tablet and start competing with Emily, Rita and Mary to become Mayor of The Rovers! I’d love to see Sean give Norris a Social Media masterclass. Some digital marketing could be great for business at The Kabin.

Modern technology has certainly changed the way that I enjoy Coronation Street. Catch-up TV means I never miss an episode and with the constant flow of official posts, memes, previews and tweets, I’d know what was going on even if I did.

The advent of blogging and the Coronation Street Blog (thank you Glenda) mean I also have somewhere to share my thoughts about Corrie and a community of like-minded people from all over the world with whom I can discuss my favourite show (thank you everyone).

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I actually watched last Wednesday’s episode on my laptop while travelling to Manchester to meet my fellow Coronation Street Bloggers for the very first time. That was last Friday and we had a cracking day out.

We even met Corrie’s Digital Editor who does a great job of managing the Coronation Street website and the various social media platforms. I will share some memories of the day if I can tear myself away from Instagramming my tea!

What do you think? Is it a better experience for us Corrie fans in this cyber age of constant and instant information or do you feel that less was more? Feel free to Tweet, Instagram, Vine and Snapchat your thoughts but for those of us less au fait with social networking than Sean Tully, please also leave your comments here.

By Martin Leay

Twitter: @mpleay  

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