This weekend I went to the movies. But I didn't wait in line. I didn't sit next to a stranger. In my pajamas and in front of my computer screen, I saw a new release from the comfort of my own bedroom.

On Friday, October 1st, "Freakonomics" was released in 16 theaters. But on September 3rd, the documentary was available on iTunes and fully accessible to audiences all over the country (reaching my laptop screen on October 2nd). "Freakonomics", a film made by what has been commonly referred to as "the documentary dream team", is not the only independent feature to rethink conventional modes of distribution. "Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer", an upcoming doc by Alex Gibney (whose work is also featured in "Freakonomics") also calls traditional models into question –– it premiered on Friday on iTunes, despite the fact that it won't reach theaters until November 5th.

Perhaps this new method of distribution can be best understood by looking at "The Social Network". In this box office hit, Mark Zuckerburg, expertly played by Jesse Eisenberg, wants to take "the entire social experience of college and put it online." These days, every social experience has it's own virtual equivalent online. With Four Square, our experiences of going to restaurants and interacting with space are translated into online realities. Despite the fact that we interact with our "friends" from Smartphones, the experience of using Four Square and it's competitors is still a social one. But are "Freakonomics" and "Client 9" really trying to put the social experience of going to see a movie online, or are they simply putting their film on iTunes?

As I watched "Freakonomics" in my bedroom alone, I realized that there was absolutely nothing "social" about watching a movie on iTunes. I was happy to save money and pay only $6.99 for my 24 hour download, but there was something missing from my experience. As I watched a film that emphasized the importance of examining and understanding the ways that incentives motivate people, I couldn't help but wonder what incentive was motivating the filmmakers.

Maybe we need to develop a way to acknowledge the social experience of seeing feature films such as "Freakonomics" while also making these movies accessible to wide audiences. Although it's only a short, the website for Spike Jonze's animated film "I'm Here" references the physical experience of going to the movies. When viewers go to www.imheremovie.com/, they are greeted by the image of a marquee. After clicking on the ticket window, the computer pushes in closer to the counter, as if the viewer is not only watching a movie but is actually moving. Viewers are given the option to partake in the ""light experience" or the "full experience" where they can connect via facebook and invite their friends to "watch the movie together". Just as the film's main character Sheldon learns to connect with his fellow robots, the film's audience can "connect" not only to the film, but to one another through their experience of watching "I'm Here" online. As films like "The Social Network" force us to reconsider and examine our social and virtual lives, I hope that our online and actual experiences of seeing films can meet somewhere in the middle.