One of the topics that people have been kicking around for Podcamp Western Mass is 'Social TV'. It probably means a bunch of different things to different people, so I'm going to hit on a few different topics.

First, there are the video streaming devices. These days, there are more and more Internet enabled video devices. We currently use Roku, which streams Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and a lot of other 'channels'. It is a relatively inexpensive device that has worked nicely for us. On top of that, we can still use it with our old analog non-HD TV.

A friend of mine has spoken highly of the Western Digital TV. I haven't played with this, so I can't comment, but it looks fairly similar to the Roku. Another older device is Boxee, which I also haven't tried, but I've read a bit about. Of course, everyone is watching Apple TV and Google TV closely to see how they do, and now, there is talk of Ubuntu TV.

Ubuntu is a version of the open source Linux operating system. Ubuntu TV sounds particularly interesting to a geek like me, but I don't think it is available yet.

Then, there are all the Blu-Ray DVD players and HDTV sets that come internet enabled. In some cases, Google TV is incorporated into Blu-Ray players.

With that, you then get into the 'channels'. More and more of what we watch online is from Netflix streaming. Then there is Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, and more and more players entering the market everyday.

There are also all the other things out there. Smaller channels available on some of the streaming devices. Roku has private channels, as well as a developers environment. This even allows for connecting other devices like the Plex media player, which you can run on a Mac, or MythTV, an open source DVR, although apparently the MythTV to Roku connection requires a bit of hacking.

Finally, there are the sites enabling social interaction. Some of this may be done on Twitter, other interactions on sites like GetGlue, and new site I'm starting to look at called tweet.tv, which looks interesting, but so far has been pretty buggy.

I should note, with all of this, that I actually watch very little television. I like to watch videos on YouTube from time to time and have always wanted to find good sources for obscure movies and foreign television, but so far, nothing has really captured my attention.

So, what are you doing for social tv?