Online Video & The Campfire…
I was at the Google/YouTube Videocracy event yesterday afternoon here in Manhattan and it certainly got me thinking about the online video landscape (not that I’ve not thought about it in the past).
One of the quotes that resonated with me was about how online video is like a campfire. The campfire is a place where communication takes place in all different ways and as someone who spends quite a bit outside, I liked the analogy a lot. I can stare at a campfire for 30 minutes at a time, never getting bored and also, totally fascinated.
I don’t know if I’m totally fascinated by all of the content on YouTube, but in some capacities, YouTube is the new television channel. YouTube as a whole wouldn’t be the channel, but a channel such as the one Ford Models has setup is emerging. YouTube is acting as a technology provider for anyone to create their own channels…
Imagine how much easier it is to program that channel than the channels on regular television (logistics with stations, timing, dollars, etc)? Reach numbers aren’t quite there yet, but there are 23,689 subscribers who have watched over 2.26MM channel views. We’re not there yet for this to take over the world, but in a micro-world in which we’re moving towards, this is not half bad.
Ian talks about the night in a bit more detail, be sure to check it out. My friends at Next New Networks also got a great shoutout and showcased Threadbanger upstairs on the 3rd floor.