Official release from Warner Brothers:

For the first time, The CW’s hit drama series The Vampire Diaries (Thursdays 8/7c) — from Warner Bros. Television — has topped Trendrr’s list of the most social primetime TV series on broadcast television, ranking as network TV’s #1 social program during the week of January 21–27.

•  The Vampire Diaries fans threw a #TVDparty throughout social media last week, generating nearly 865,000 social interactions across Twitter, Facebook, GetGlue and Viggle according to Trendrr.TV, taking a bite out of former list topper American Idol and besting iconic hits such as The Simpsons, Family Guy and Glee.

• Cast members Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder, Kat Graham, Zach Roerig and Claire Holt joined executive producer Julie Plec in live tweeting during the Thursday, January 24, episode and interacting with fans, with the #TVDparty hashtag trending on Twitter that night.

Catch new episodes of The Vampire Diaries Thursdays at 8/7c on The CW; watch current season episodes on CWTV.com, The CW app and on Hulu; and catch up on previous seasons via Netflix. Connect with The Vampire Diaries on Twitter, Facebook, GetGlue and Viggle.

Source: Trendrr.TV, Broadcast Prime, 1/21-1/27/13, weekly social activity across Twitter, Facebook, GetGlue, and Viggle

Asking yourself why that matters?  Well, the show certainly didn’t top the Neilsen ratings, did it?  Social Media ratings and trends like this need to start counting for something, and for a show like TVD on a network like The CW to be more talked about and recognized than something like AMERICAN IDOL which is 3-4 times bigger, Nielsen wise?  It says something.  We’ll keep you updated on the Social rankings from Trendrr.TV over the weeks, and at the end of the season when shows with ratings the size of TVD are jettisoned (worry not, TVD isn’t going anywhere) for the bigger ratings and lesser shows, we can all discuss starting that “ratings need to be changed” movement I’m always ranting about!