Hulu + Social Networking= Disaster

I discovered Hulu this past fall and have since fallen in love with it's simple yet effective interface. Being able to watch my favorite shows (see clip below from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia- best show ever) in their entirety or just funny clips for those short attention span moments, is a luxury I've come to treasure.

What also impressed me about Hulu is it's business model. This is the first site of it's kind that's found an effective way to monetize content without annoying the audience. The most you have to suffer through is two fifteen second ads per half hour show. And the beauty of it is, it gives you time to quickly check your email. As someone who is used to waiting through four to five 10 minute commerial blocks on shows like American Idol (yes I still watch it), two 15-sec spots is cake.

So as you can tell, I'm a huge Hulu fan. That was up until today when the Wall Street Journal announced that "the Internet-video site is adding social-networking functions in hopes of building user loyalty and mining data to attract more advertisers." The site, Hulu Friends, launched today in conjunction with Hulu's one year anniversary and includes many similar features to Facebook.

Hulu was on its way to becoming a real threat to traditional television but the The Wall Street Journal made a very interesting hypothesis that social networking component might actually take away their competitive advantage:

"By underscoring that the site is about providing entertainment on the computer, and not replacing television, the new social-networking features also could help ease concerns about Hulu's potential to undermine the business interests of TV networks and cable operators."

Oh Hulu, why couldn't you just leave good enough alone?