While the Hopper DVR has been found to be a valuable if occasionally controversial addition to Dish Network's lineup of hardware, a new app now available on the Hopper is offering up some new—at least new to Dish Network—functionality. Dubbed Dish Social, the app allows Hopper users to connect to Facebook (News - Alert) or Twitter accounts and not only have a venue to easily discuss with other viewers what's happening on television, but also derive new insights about what's going on within television in the process.

The Dish Social app is split into three separate feeds: one for Facebook, one for Twitter (News - Alert), and one for the "Now Watching" feed that offers a compilation of tweets and posts most relevant to the show currently being viewed. Users can connect Facebook and Twitter feeds—up to four accounts in total for either of the social networks in question—to the display to not only weigh in on the programming, but also get a look at what others are talking about.

Perhaps even more noteworthy here is that the app will also provide an on-screen breakdown of social networking activity about a particular show, offering both tweets in the last hour—broken down into 15 minute intervals–as well as tweets over the last four weeks, broken down by week. This actually allows regular users to get an easy, birds-eye view of a show's overall popularity as expressed by social media activity. Those interested in getting in on the action can reportedly fire up the app with Dish's "quick launch" bar found in the Hopper interface.

Given that according to reports, fully 32 million Americans were at some point tweeting about television shows, putting the ability to perform that tweeting right in the television itself does make a note of sense. There's been quite a bit made lately about "second screen" applications and how televisions can better interact with these applications, but what happens when the television itself can offer many of the same functions as a second screen platform? It's likely that many more users will bring these "second screen" applications into use, especially when said applications are as easy to access as the television itself. That may well open up a whole set of new advertising opportunities for the television series, and conceivably, even lengthened programs with fewer commercial breaks.

While only time will tell just how well Dish Social catches on with users, and in turn provide a better idea as far as implications for the wider industry go, it's clear that just watching television isn't sitting well with many viewers and bringing in those notes of interactivity is providing a shot at better engagement and an improved customer experience overall.