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Vlogs — Video Blogs —
The Next Big Thing on the Internet
By
William J. Comcowich
CEO, CyberAlert, Inc.
www.cyberalert.com
Mainstream print and broadcast media (newspapers, news magazines, trade journals, radio, TV) are rapidly losing their role as the privileged gatekeeper of news and entertainment.
Most people now get their news first from the Internet. Internet based news sources such as Yahoo! News have larger readership than all but a handful of traditional print publications. Some blogs, the personal journals published on the Internet, have readership levels matching or exceeding the circulation of many traditional newspapers and trade journals. Citizen journalists not associated with traditional news outlets now often break important news stories.
While websites and blogs have made it possible for virtually any individual to become a publisher of "print" stories, video blogs (also known as vlogs, v-logs, vblogs, vidblogs, video casts, vidcasts, vcasts and v-casts) — now make it easy to produce and distribute AV (audio/video) files on the Internet.
Video Blogs of Tsunami
The 2004 Indian ocean tsunami brought the power of vlogs into focus. Video bloggers posted compelling amateur video of the disaster soon after the tsunami struck Phuket and Patong in Thailand, Penang in Malaysia, and Sri Lanka. Most of the amateur video producers were tourists.
Unable to get their production crews to the sites of the damage, mainstream television networks and local TV stations, filched the v-bloggers' video segments off the Internet and aired them repeatedly, validating the value of amateur video and portending future uses of amateur video news reports and commentary.
Many video blogs approach the production values of commercial TV. Low cost production tools make vlogs affordable for most individuals. The tools provide v-bloggers with teleprompters so that they can read prepared scripts just like news readers on commercial TV stations. The software also permits timed insertion of prepared graphics. Some inexpensive software even has "green screen" capabilities, allowing v-bloggers to insert a picture of a location in the background and appear to be broadcasting from that location — in front of a corporate headquarters, for example. By utilizing the standard production values of commercial TV, a vlog production can be indistinguishable from mainstream media, thereby gaining instant credibility.
The proliferation of 3G cell phones with built-in digital video camera gives millions of people the first basic necessity for vlogs — the ability to instantly capture a live event and, if necessary, to pretty much do it surreptitiously. One can certainly envision a future with amateur "bloggerazzi" carrying digital cell phone cameras or inconspicuous webcams.
Current Video Blogs
As you would expect, many current video blogs focus on children, as proud parents show off their achievements. Exhibitionists are posting sexually explicit Paris Hilton-type videos. But, the video blogosphere is mostly attracting individuals who fancy themselves the new Andy Rooney (commentator), or John Stewart (comic), or Jay Leno (show host), or Steven Spielberg (movie producer/director), or Roger Ebert (movie critic), or Rush Limbaugh (conservative political pundit), or Jim Cramer (financial pundit), or David Horowitz (product critic), or Michael Moore (corporate critic), or Ralph Nader (activist), — or some combination of those folks.
Most video bloggers seek to position themselves as a "guru" of their niche — a position from which they can accrue influence, power and possibly riches.
Some have already achieved cult status. One of the more popular daily video blogs is the slickly-produced Rocketboom (http://www.rocketboom.com/vlog) hosted by Amanda Congdon, an actress. The Weblog "Cheese and Crackers", (http://jlgolson.blogspot.com/) run by student Jordan Golson was the No. 1 ranked video blog on the Web with 464,000 daily visitors after hosting tsunami videos and getting a link from the DrudgeReport. Golson has subsequently removed most videos because he couldn't afford to pay for the bandwidth required to deliver video clips.
In Boston, Steve Garfield practices citizen journalism by producing videos (http://stevegarfield.blogs.com/videoblog) covering local events including this past summer's Democratic National Convention. Jeff Jarvis (http://www.buzzmachine.com/), a former TV critic for TV Guide and People, creator of Entertainment Weekly, Sunday Editor of the NY Daily News, and a columnist on the San Francisco Examiner, blogs and vlogs about media. (See his v-log about Fast Food at http://www.buzzmachine.com/vlogs.html).
Within 30 minutes of the dramatic chip shot by Tiger Woods on the 16th hole of the masters, marketing blogger Joseph Jaffee had created a commercial featuring the Nike logo on the ball falling into the cup, easily beating the Nike advertisement. Just do it, as they say. It will not be the last product "commercial" created by a video blogger. A plethora of "anti" commercials, such as the anti-Bush and anti-war online video advertisements distributed by MoveOn.org, are likely to emerge in coming weeks and months.
Peter Jackson, director of the new King Kong movie, has a "production journal" or movie vlog (http://www.kongisking.net/kong2005/proddiary/) portraying the behind the scenes activity of making the movie, thereby creating advance "buzz" for the production.
Some of the vlog commentators are inventive, pointed, professional — and hilarious. See the Karl Miller v-log "Streams of Consciousness" on the subject of cloning: http://www.vlog.com/portal/index.php?blogId=7
Channel 9, a v-blog set up by Microsoft, enables the company and its employees to better communicate with software developers by providing them with interviews and product demonstrations. The site attracts 900,000 viewers per month.
The comic Adam Sandler offers regular video messages to his fans through his personal video blog.
Other video blogs can be seen at hosting sites for vlogs including OurMedia.org, an open source citizen journalist project and KnowItAllVideo.com, a no-cost video aggregator.
By making it easy and inexpensive to produce video, vlogs democratize entertainment media in the same way that the Internet itself wrestled power from the traditional press and news media. The power of the media will no longer be concentrated in the hands of the privileged few but will be disbursed to the masses. Companies and PR professionals will have vastly expanded media contact lists.
Potential uses of vlogs are virtually limitless. Some possibilities...
- aspiring entertainers will use them to showcase their work and create new entertainment vehicles (See http://www.tropisms.org and http://www.vidblogs.com)
- amateur commentators will use them to vent
- activists was use them to attack adversaries and distribute video of protest rallies
- companies will use them to teach customers and partners
- high schools and colleges will broadcast sports events (or other activities)
- teachers will distribute video lectures (or students will surreptitiously tape the lecture for use by those who don't attend class)
- politicians will use them to influence public opinion
- pr agencies will use them to promote clients and products
- ad agencies will use them to test or augment commercials
- mainstream journalists will use them as sources for stories
- hobbyists will use them to show off collections
- bosses will use them to communicate with and motivate employees
- eye witnesses will use them to record (and sell) video of newsworthy events
- employees will use them to document a boss's behavior, such as harassment
- "bloggerazzi" will use them to publish online celebrity video journals
- new "reality" television shows will be based on v-logs
- local TV stations will solicit v-logs of local events and incorporate them into news broadcasts
- Websites of local TV stations will offer vlog services for video of local interest, including personal videos
- commercial television programs will recycle their outtakes in video blogs
- political parties will make available video snippets from personal appearances of candidates — touting their own candidates and highlighting gaffs of opposing candidates
- travelers will use "vlogues" to produce personalized travelogues, critique travel services (airlines, hotels, restaurants, etc.), and depict facilities as they actually are
- patients will use vlogs to document care received
- companies will distribute video news releases on vlogs
- and many more...
How should PR professionals react to the emergence of video blogs?
First — monitor the state of the art; get to understand this new medium and how it can affect your company and its brands.
Second — identify video bloggers and vlogs focused on your industry; get to know who they are and their positions; track their postings; understand their personal agendas
Third — respond appropriately to postings about your product (recognizing that bloggers are not governed by the standard rules of journalism and could very well post any communications you have with them.)
Fourth — position your company as a leader in the new medium; consider setting up a v-blog that gives your employees and customers a voice; enable product champions to extol the product's virtues and share their knowledge and experiences; for credibility, allow critics to post valid criticism, thereby co-opting them and gaining primacy over the discussion.
If you think video blogs are just a passing fad, think again. Both Google and Yahoo! have announced plans to start vlog hosting services. With global gateways to the Internet providing visibility, vlogs will gain extraordinary worldwide reach onto the desktops of over 220 million Internet users. The growing availability of faster Internet connections together with the advent of video searching will make video blogs accessible to all worldwide.
Astute companies will use the new medium to their advantage. Companies that ignore it will be imperiled.
You comments, suggestions and feedback on this article are most welcome.
About the author:
William J. Comcowich is President and CEO of CyberAlert, Inc., (www.cyberalert.com) a leading worldwide media monitoring service that monitors 25,000+ news sites worldwide in 17 languages; 100,000+ message boards, forums and Usenet news groups; and 5+ million blogs.
