Tivo Community

As the oldest and most established DVR service, TiVo also has the largest online community of users. The company's website hosts numerous discussion groups, the topics range from the discussion of favorite shows to repair and upgrades to venting about TiVo's new advertising policies. The site also has a cute and/or goofy page where users from around the world pose with a small plush model of the company's logo--a smiling television set. Users are also encouraged, on this site, to sign up to test TiVo's new products, as well as to recommend the company and its services to friends.

The TiVo Community website is watched by TiVo employees, but they do not edit or censor any of the postings. In fact, they do not own it at all. The site, however, is moderated. The moderators are generally long-time TiVo users who have a particular interest or expertise in one or more areas. In order to post, users must register, but, like many other similar forums, this is not necessary to read what others have said.

On these pages, people interested in TiVo can find out what others have thought about a particular product, or about the service in general. The community forums also serve as a place where people of like interests--such as Star Trek or auto racing--can meet up. Numerous postings are between groups of members who are planning get-togethers.

The pages also give people advice on how to upgrade their TiVo to increase record times, how certain remotes work with the system, as well as 101 other technical concerns. TiVo employees do occasionally post to the site, sometimes to offer advice or to make announcements. The posting that recently received the largest amount of hits deal with an upgrade to the TiVo software.