Archive for December, 2005

Ryanne’s Video Blog

Sunday, December 4th, 2005

This past week was Ryanne’s one year anniversary videoblogging.
Go check out her special video.

Over the past year, we started dating and even moved in together.
If I look back at the archives of both of our videoblogs, I see how we’ve grown on each other. We were both desperately trying to find a sustainable alternative to the TV world that both of us came out of.
Blogging with video is the way.

I got to tell you: its a pleasure to watch Ryan in action.
I see how she helps eveyone around with FreeVlog or Node101.
She makes great videos, always documenting and putting it together in meaningful ways. She listens to my crazy ideas and lets me spend hours trying to do them.
She’s also beautiful and I love her.

What the %?!!* is RSS?

Friday, December 2nd, 2005

When a small group of us first started videoblogging consistently, we were just happy to get our videos on the web. We were pretty amazed that more people than we ever expected could actually watch them. We realized that broadband internet had reach critical mass.
But it was a life-changing discovery to realize that we could use RSS feeds to distribute our videos far and wide using aggregators, some of which we built ourselves(mefeedia or FireAnt).

But it’s still a pain in the ass to explain RSS to regular citizens because its not how most people experience the web. They go from one web address to the next. They strictly surf.

But RSS lets its all come to you.
Once everyone gets it…wow. Thats what all this "web 2.0" is all about.
How many people do you know that have aggregators?

Josh Leo explains RSS very well in this video.
Amanda Congdon and Andrew Baron explains it well here.
Ryanne Hodson shows her knowledge here.

Send these links far and wide…and get people connected to the web through RSS.

Chinese Videobloggers

Friday, December 2nd, 2005

Someone just pointed me to a ouser-genrated video website in China called TooDou.com.
Supposedly it is a community that has grown into the thousands since earlier this year.
People are uploading video and audio in chinese. awesome.
Here is there about page with some articles in English.

Wong of Duller says:

Toodou has been up since april of 2005.
currently its members have reach -unknown-
anyway, they have more than 13,000 channels now and increasing rapidly for both members and channels.
everyone can be a member, "Everyone can be director" is the slogan they’re using to promote their service…

like blogger, everyone can have several ‘channels’ and each channel
are given 100 mb.  users are encouraged to use p2p software… lol…
i’m not from china so i’m not very sure how popular about that… but
one thing i’m sure is podcast is more pop than vlog in china…
what’s more concern by china blogger/podcaster/vlogger is the revenue they can make

It’s something exciting because I have had very little success finding Chinese videobloggers. The language and cultural differences are still very dense, but maybe this is changing as people start making their own media. The "bridge builders" will show up and start introducing their community know what’s happening "outside". Then a common language can start forming. This is the dream.

Workshop the method

Friday, December 2nd, 2005

Randy Wicker is a funny guy because he’s always trying to figure out how to ge famous in videoblogging. He’s had a long career at throwing himself into traditional media and making sure his voice was heard.

Recenly he said this about videoblogging:

We are all people with stories to share.  We
like to think our stories are interesting to others.  Vlogging is an
interesting test.  I’ve done beautiful vlogs that died at birth.  I’ve
done others I thought were mediocre that took off and flew.  I still can’t
figure out what makes one vlog popular and causes another to get
neglected.
"Headlines" sell newspapers and "titles" definitely
help to attract viewers to vlogs.  Likewise, having a consistent format
like "Drinking with Bob" where viewers knew they are going to get 90 seconds of
mad ranting helps to build a following.  Same goes for Rocketboom and other
vloggers.
I think of vloggers as being like comics at comedy
workshops.  they try various lines and see which ones please the audience
and provoke a response.  That is the way they hone their craft.  So
vlogging is really a new "trade" or "craft".  Some will be outstanding and
others will fail miserably.
The nice thing is that we can continually attempt
to improve and reinvent ourselves until we find a niche where we and our public
are comfortable coming together.

So here is a good example of how a performer approaches videoblogging.
Unlike me who is simply documenting and archiving my life for myself, Randy wants a big audience. He wants influence.
In this sense, videoblogging is absolutely a craft that must be honed.

Recording our own history

Friday, December 2nd, 2005

As a movement grows, slowly it gets documented. It’s important for us to record what it is that’s happening. A media evolution. For the first time, we can record, distribute and archive our own history.

Here’s a short documentary about how the technology and podcasting and videoblogging began.
BK’s Video: First Cut, Citizen Media Evolution

Brad Kozlek is a good guy. He’s always made consistently good work.

Multidimensional Me

Thursday, December 1st, 2005

There’s been a lot of talk lately about making money for videoblogs.
Companies are popping up on the web wanting to resell user-created video.
I got an email the other day from some guy who wanted to put my videos in his new service.
I asked him "do you think people would really pay to see my personal videos?"
He answered honestly: "no."
I think he just wanted to fill his site with easy-to-get content, waiting for the other Rocketbooms that are bound to come.

Here’s a video that you’d never see on TV.
Link: Multidimensional.Me.
My girlfriend and I met Koan at Blogher this summer.
Would anyone pay to see this video? Doubtful.
Am i glad it exists? Hell yes.
A person in her own voice explaining her situation in life.
Priceless.
Personal video makes empathy grows.