The Al Jazeera English Show Guided by Social Media

Al Jazeera English will be launching a new show that's guided by what people are talking about on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites, reports Wired's Dylan Tweney. The Stream, as it will be known, will appear later this spring, just in time to capitalize on new interest in the channel in the wake of its outstanding coverage of the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East.

As the Arab world reels with revolutions fomented in part online, Al Jazeera English is planning a new talk show that has social networking at its heart.

It's just lucky timing, says Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, the voluble young producer and co-host of the show, called "The Stream," which is scheduled to appear on the English language version of Al Jazeera starting in May. The video above is a teaser for the show, which has been in the works since late last year. But as Africa and the Middle East see revolutions organized in part via Facebook (and dating sites) and publicized via Twitter and YouTube, the concept looks prescient.

The core idea of The Stream is that it's not scripted in the ordinary way. Rather than give the hosts a script, typed rundown, or teleprompter cues, the producers will make extensive use of tweets, Facebook wall posts, and YouTube videos from their most engaged viewers and the web at large.

Read the full story at Wired's Epicenter.