by Aanarav Sareen on July 29, 2010
YouTube is clearly the market leader when it comes to online video. Offering a variety of content and styles, the site has more video content than most other sites combined.
For content creators, YouTube is a great destination because of its built-in audience. However, there are certain limiting factors for content creators. The largest one being length limit. Prior to today, YouTube capped non-partner uploads to 10 minute segments. While this was OK for a vast majority of people, it was insufficient for long-form content creators.
Today, Google announced that YouTube users will have the ability to upload 15 minute clips. While 15 minutes is still not long (as compared to TV, movies, etc.) it’s a step in the right direction.
If you are a professional content creator with a dedicated audience, signing up for the YouTube partner program lifts various restrictions and allows greater branding and content control. You can apply here.
by Aanarav Sareen on July 28, 2010
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In this episode of the Digital Media Podcast, Aanarav Sareen and Tim Gilmour from Dualform Studio speak with Mark Jeffrey, the CEO of ThisWeekIn.com about the rapidly growing video network and the potential of digital media.
Subscribe | Download MP3 | Podcast Page
by Aanarav Sareen on July 28, 2010
Over the past few months, many people have suggested that social viewing is the next logical step for online media. Social viewing simply means consuming content with your friends and interacting with other like-minded people while watching content.
While social viewing has certainly been successful for large-scale events such as the Presidential Inauguration and the Oscars, it won’t be successful for a majority of the web for a few reasons:
- No advantage: Currently, social viewing does not offer any benefit to the end user. None at all. Social viewing might be beneficial in a learning environment (example: a corporate training course), but there is no distinct advantage otherwise.
- Distraction: Social viewing is a distraction for most people. There’s a reason why movie theaters dim their lighting and specifically mention users to lower their voices.
- Analysis: Many fans and analysts talk about the movie/content after it has aired or is published. No one likes to talk while a movie is going on. Furthermore, independent online properties have been created to support individual shows or a group of shows, proving that analysis is best done after the fact.
- Time-shift: Many people watch content at different times. Even in the United States, there is an East Coast feed and a West Coast feed, ensuring that people won’t have access to the same content at the same time. Our community is also moving towards a time-shifted viewing model, which makes it convenient for people to watch content anytime, anywhere. Social Viewing is a step in the opposite direction
While social viewing may offer some benefits for an event that is extremely popular, it will continue to be a myth for most content.
