YouTube Video - Ask The Experts
A bit of a rant about al those self appointed, so called "experts".
Whether they be in the workplace, on online.
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Showing posts with label youtube. Show all posts
Showing posts with label youtube. Show all posts
Monday, 20 June 2011
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
Tuesday, 4 January 2011
2010 - My Year In Social Media.
After writing my last post for this blog, i started to think about what i had done in the world of social media during 2010. I have been using, what we would call social media, since 2006 and i wondered if 2010 had been any different to the previous years.
So, in the interests of curiosity, i decided to do a little research and thought it only right that i post my findings on a social media site for all to see.
Of course, one of the things that i did do in 2010 was to set up this Social Media Journeys blog. Rather than go through the reasons why all over again, here is a YouTube video i made at the time explaining why.
What i thought i'd do, is to go through the main social media sites that i use and discuss them separately.
First: YouTube.
YouTube was the first social media site that i really got involved with, in August 2006. Yes, i had dabbled with other sites, but none that i could get very excited about.
In 2010 i posted 119 videos on YouTube. My total number of videos on YouTube is now approaching 700 by the way.
This actually surprised me, because i felt that i had slowed down my video output during 2010. But, as i'm sure you can work out yourself, this still averages out at over 2 videos per week. Not a bad total at all.
One of reasons for this higher than expected number, is the Road Trip i did in California, with fellow YouTubers in April and May of 2010. That trip has produced over 20 separate videos alone.
YouTube is still a site that i have a great deal of fondness for, but i do find myself spending less and less time there and also finding myself watching less and less videos there too.
I still intend to make and post videos, mainly because i still really enjoy doing so. Long may that continue.
Next: My personal blog - Moose Musings.
During 2010 i posted 238 posts to this blog. Now, that may sound rather a lot. But, i do use my personal blog as a kind of collection point for all of my social media ramblings. This includes my YouTube videos, AudioBoos and posts from this Social Media Journeys blog.
After taking all of those posts out of the equation, i reckon that i actually only wrote around 40 unique posts for Moose Musings. That's still getting towards one a week, which is about what i might have expected. Especially given all my other online activities.
I know a lot of people have their own personal websites to collect all of their online output and that is something that i have considered. But, for moment at least, i intend to continue with using Moose Musings as a kind of one stop shop for my social media ramblings.
One thing i would like to do in 2011 is more writing. I have noticed that my blogging has tended to decrease, especially towards the end of 2011. But, i know that i can put that down to the next social media site i'm going to mention.
Next: AudioBoo.
I first started using AudioBoo in early 2009. I used it for around 6 months and then did what so many of us do, i stopped using the site and, more or less, forgot about it.
Fast forward to September of 2010 and i noticed that several of my online friends had recently started to post podcasts on AudioBoo themselves. As you can imagine, this re-awakened by interest in the site. After all, if they were using AudioBoo, maybe it's time i went back and had a look at it myself?
Since then i have posted 74 Boos onto the site! So, i think you can safely say that i'm well and truly back on AudioBoo.
I have found it so quick and easy to use, especially with my iPhone. I can podcast from pretty much anywhere, which is one of the beauties of the site. I can think of a topic and within 15 minutes, my AudioBoo is uploaded and available for anyone to listen to. That is certainly not the case, for me anyway, with either YouTube, or Blogger.
Since September i have certainly found myself blogging less and podcasting more, for the reasons i've just mentioned. I expect this will continue into 2011.
If you've not tried AudioBoo why not give it a go? You may well become hooked, like so many others have.
Well, those are the sites where i post the most real content. But, of course i also use several other social media and networking sites as well.
Facebook and Twitter are sites that i use frequently every day. I have been on both since 2008 and strangely enough, they are both sites that i resisted for a while, before being convinced by others to try.
I use Twitter a lot and now find it an invaluable way of keeping in touch with online and real life friends, finding interesting videos, articles, breaking news and people. It is also, like Facebook, a great way of linking your own social media output.
Twitter was certainly a huge help to me after the fire on Hastings Pier, in October. I was able to link my online output very quickly and get almost instant response/feedback from many sources.
Another aspect of Twitter that i like is being able to post photos, via such apps/sites as TwitPic.
Apart from my emails, Twitter is the first thing that i turn to in the morning. I think that shows how much it has crept into my life.
Facebook, on the other hand, is something that i've grown into during 2010.
Even after being dragged there in 2008, i was still to be convinced about the site. That feeling still persisted at the start of 2010. But, i'm now coming around and find myself using the site more and more.
Strangely enough, it is the local aspect of Facebook that has helped me to enjoy it more. I use the site just as much to keep in contact and up to date, with local people, as i do with my Internet friends.
I do use Twitter is a similar way, but the local people i interact with on Facebook are far more likely to be people that i actually know and i feel that makes a lot of difference.
I mentioned in my earlier Social Media Journeys blog post about Posterous and the fact that i'd given up using the site, mainly because it had become, for me at least, a site too far.
I was using Posterous in a similar way to how i use my personal blog and found that duplicating my output on yet another site, was just too much.
I would still recommend Posterous for some users, but i don't think it's for me anymore. Who knows though, that may well change at some point in the future.
Like all sites that i tend not to use anymore, i still keep my account open, just in case.
MySpace Now, where do you start with MySpace?
I was never a big fan of the site anyway and have only realy used it because of my involvement with Hastings Rock radio. I look after the stations MySpace page and to be honest, hardly ever go there these days.
Those visits are likely to be even less frequent after the recent re-design of the site. I know i am not alone in thinking that it's awful. I'm just thankful that my need to use MySpace is becoming less and less, partly due to the emergence of sites like Twitter and Facebook.
Having said that, MySpace can be very useful for posting blog posts about Hastings Rock. There are still a lot of musical people out there who use the site. I suspect though that, like me, they'd happily use an alternative if they could.
Two other sites which i did use, to varying degrees, in 2010 were LinkedIn and Flickr.
I only started using LinkedIn because several people asked me to and i'll be honest, i've yet to get anything out of using the site.
I suspect that i'm not the right type of person to be using it. It appears to be aimed at the higher end of the working population, which is an area that i didn't really move in myself. I fully realise that, like so many other sites, LinkedIn will work well for some and not for others. Horses for courses, as we say in the UK.
I'll keep my profile and maybe even update it from time to time. But, it tends to take an email about the site to remind me of its existence.
Flickr, on the other hand, is another one of those sites that i've used periodically and have now started to use once again. It's a site that i like and i suspect the only reason i've not used it very much in the past is because i've been posting my photos onto my Facebook profile instead. Once again, that thought of duplicating what you're doing and the time that it takes, stops me from doing so.
But, i now have a new DSLR camera and a renewed enthusiasm for taking photos and this has led me back to Flickr.
I've always had an interest in photography and enjoy taking photos, but the lack of a really good camera has often stopped me from taking it more seriously.
As it happens, i was approached, via my Flickr profile, by a website that produces online guides to cities around the world. They wanted to use one of my photos for an online guide to Brighton, in the UK. A town only 35 miles from where i live.
So, i suspect Flickr is a site i'll be using much more in 2011.
And there you have it, a trip through the social media journey that i made in 2010. Sure, i used many other sites as well, but the ones mentioned above are the ones that i posted material onto.
I wonder how my own journey would compare to anyone elses? I suspect that many of the same sites would be used.
As always, i'd love to hear anybody elses own experiences. Who knows, i may well discover some great new social media sites to use in the process?
So, what does 2011 hold and which, if any, new social media sites will i discover and start using during this year? And how many will i stick with?
I've already had a look at the latest buzz site Quora. That seems to have everyone talking, so i guess it's only a matter of time before you'll find me there as well.
Wherever your own social media journey takes you during 2011, i wish you well.
Have a happy and interesting 2011.
PS: For a view of what my "real life" was like in 2010, you may be interested in this video that i made for YouTube recently. Like this blog post, it's an epic, coming in at 14 minutes long!
So, in the interests of curiosity, i decided to do a little research and thought it only right that i post my findings on a social media site for all to see.
Of course, one of the things that i did do in 2010 was to set up this Social Media Journeys blog. Rather than go through the reasons why all over again, here is a YouTube video i made at the time explaining why.
What i thought i'd do, is to go through the main social media sites that i use and discuss them separately.
First: YouTube.
YouTube was the first social media site that i really got involved with, in August 2006. Yes, i had dabbled with other sites, but none that i could get very excited about.
In 2010 i posted 119 videos on YouTube. My total number of videos on YouTube is now approaching 700 by the way.
This actually surprised me, because i felt that i had slowed down my video output during 2010. But, as i'm sure you can work out yourself, this still averages out at over 2 videos per week. Not a bad total at all.
One of reasons for this higher than expected number, is the Road Trip i did in California, with fellow YouTubers in April and May of 2010. That trip has produced over 20 separate videos alone.
YouTube is still a site that i have a great deal of fondness for, but i do find myself spending less and less time there and also finding myself watching less and less videos there too.
I still intend to make and post videos, mainly because i still really enjoy doing so. Long may that continue.
Next: My personal blog - Moose Musings.
During 2010 i posted 238 posts to this blog. Now, that may sound rather a lot. But, i do use my personal blog as a kind of collection point for all of my social media ramblings. This includes my YouTube videos, AudioBoos and posts from this Social Media Journeys blog.
After taking all of those posts out of the equation, i reckon that i actually only wrote around 40 unique posts for Moose Musings. That's still getting towards one a week, which is about what i might have expected. Especially given all my other online activities.
I know a lot of people have their own personal websites to collect all of their online output and that is something that i have considered. But, for moment at least, i intend to continue with using Moose Musings as a kind of one stop shop for my social media ramblings.
One thing i would like to do in 2011 is more writing. I have noticed that my blogging has tended to decrease, especially towards the end of 2011. But, i know that i can put that down to the next social media site i'm going to mention.
Next: AudioBoo.
I first started using AudioBoo in early 2009. I used it for around 6 months and then did what so many of us do, i stopped using the site and, more or less, forgot about it.
Fast forward to September of 2010 and i noticed that several of my online friends had recently started to post podcasts on AudioBoo themselves. As you can imagine, this re-awakened by interest in the site. After all, if they were using AudioBoo, maybe it's time i went back and had a look at it myself?
Since then i have posted 74 Boos onto the site! So, i think you can safely say that i'm well and truly back on AudioBoo.
I have found it so quick and easy to use, especially with my iPhone. I can podcast from pretty much anywhere, which is one of the beauties of the site. I can think of a topic and within 15 minutes, my AudioBoo is uploaded and available for anyone to listen to. That is certainly not the case, for me anyway, with either YouTube, or Blogger.
Since September i have certainly found myself blogging less and podcasting more, for the reasons i've just mentioned. I expect this will continue into 2011.
If you've not tried AudioBoo why not give it a go? You may well become hooked, like so many others have.
Well, those are the sites where i post the most real content. But, of course i also use several other social media and networking sites as well.
Facebook and Twitter are sites that i use frequently every day. I have been on both since 2008 and strangely enough, they are both sites that i resisted for a while, before being convinced by others to try.
I use Twitter a lot and now find it an invaluable way of keeping in touch with online and real life friends, finding interesting videos, articles, breaking news and people. It is also, like Facebook, a great way of linking your own social media output.
Twitter was certainly a huge help to me after the fire on Hastings Pier, in October. I was able to link my online output very quickly and get almost instant response/feedback from many sources.
Another aspect of Twitter that i like is being able to post photos, via such apps/sites as TwitPic.
Apart from my emails, Twitter is the first thing that i turn to in the morning. I think that shows how much it has crept into my life.
Facebook, on the other hand, is something that i've grown into during 2010.
Even after being dragged there in 2008, i was still to be convinced about the site. That feeling still persisted at the start of 2010. But, i'm now coming around and find myself using the site more and more.
Strangely enough, it is the local aspect of Facebook that has helped me to enjoy it more. I use the site just as much to keep in contact and up to date, with local people, as i do with my Internet friends.
I do use Twitter is a similar way, but the local people i interact with on Facebook are far more likely to be people that i actually know and i feel that makes a lot of difference.
I mentioned in my earlier Social Media Journeys blog post about Posterous and the fact that i'd given up using the site, mainly because it had become, for me at least, a site too far.
I was using Posterous in a similar way to how i use my personal blog and found that duplicating my output on yet another site, was just too much.
I would still recommend Posterous for some users, but i don't think it's for me anymore. Who knows though, that may well change at some point in the future.
Like all sites that i tend not to use anymore, i still keep my account open, just in case.
MySpace Now, where do you start with MySpace?
I was never a big fan of the site anyway and have only realy used it because of my involvement with Hastings Rock radio. I look after the stations MySpace page and to be honest, hardly ever go there these days.
Those visits are likely to be even less frequent after the recent re-design of the site. I know i am not alone in thinking that it's awful. I'm just thankful that my need to use MySpace is becoming less and less, partly due to the emergence of sites like Twitter and Facebook.
Having said that, MySpace can be very useful for posting blog posts about Hastings Rock. There are still a lot of musical people out there who use the site. I suspect though that, like me, they'd happily use an alternative if they could.
Two other sites which i did use, to varying degrees, in 2010 were LinkedIn and Flickr.
I only started using LinkedIn because several people asked me to and i'll be honest, i've yet to get anything out of using the site.
I suspect that i'm not the right type of person to be using it. It appears to be aimed at the higher end of the working population, which is an area that i didn't really move in myself. I fully realise that, like so many other sites, LinkedIn will work well for some and not for others. Horses for courses, as we say in the UK.
I'll keep my profile and maybe even update it from time to time. But, it tends to take an email about the site to remind me of its existence.
Flickr, on the other hand, is another one of those sites that i've used periodically and have now started to use once again. It's a site that i like and i suspect the only reason i've not used it very much in the past is because i've been posting my photos onto my Facebook profile instead. Once again, that thought of duplicating what you're doing and the time that it takes, stops me from doing so.
But, i now have a new DSLR camera and a renewed enthusiasm for taking photos and this has led me back to Flickr.
I've always had an interest in photography and enjoy taking photos, but the lack of a really good camera has often stopped me from taking it more seriously.
As it happens, i was approached, via my Flickr profile, by a website that produces online guides to cities around the world. They wanted to use one of my photos for an online guide to Brighton, in the UK. A town only 35 miles from where i live.
So, i suspect Flickr is a site i'll be using much more in 2011.
And there you have it, a trip through the social media journey that i made in 2010. Sure, i used many other sites as well, but the ones mentioned above are the ones that i posted material onto.
I wonder how my own journey would compare to anyone elses? I suspect that many of the same sites would be used.
As always, i'd love to hear anybody elses own experiences. Who knows, i may well discover some great new social media sites to use in the process?
So, what does 2011 hold and which, if any, new social media sites will i discover and start using during this year? And how many will i stick with?
I've already had a look at the latest buzz site Quora. That seems to have everyone talking, so i guess it's only a matter of time before you'll find me there as well.
Wherever your own social media journey takes you during 2011, i wish you well.
Have a happy and interesting 2011.
PS: For a view of what my "real life" was like in 2010, you may be interested in this video that i made for YouTube recently. Like this blog post, it's an epic, coming in at 14 minutes long!
Sunday, 2 January 2011
Doing It Once A Day.
Happy New Year.
I was reading a personal blog post by Rich Samuels, one of the contributors to this blog, this morning.
In his post, Rich was saying how, in 2011, he intended to try and post one piece of social media every day. By this he meant either a YouTube video, a blog post, or an AudioBoo.
This was very timely, because i had noticed the other day that that is precisely what i've been tending to do recently myself. This has not been a conscious decision on my part, more a reflection on how often i tend to post onto the social media sites mentioned above.
In my comment on Rich's blog, i mentioned that i haven't even included sites such as Twitter and Facebook in my calculations. Yes, Twitter and Facebook are both social media sites, but they certainly don't require the sort of commitment that posting onto, say, YouTube does. So, i will continue to leave those sites out of the equation, at least for now.
Yesterday also marked a kind of personal social media milestone for me. Which was rather appropriate seeing as it was New Years Day. For yesterday i posted my 300th post onto my personal blog, Moose Musings.
Now don't go getting excited and start thinking that they have all been written blog posts, because they haven't. That is certainly how i used Blogger when i started out, but Moose Musings soon became a collection point for all my social media output. Hence the 300 posts.
I used to post everything onto Posterous as well, but have stopped doing that over time. This is mainly because it is so easy to get bogged down with all the sites we tend to use. Duplicating pieces of social media across several different sites can be very time consuming and you often find that it's the same people subscribed, or following you on all of them anyway.
I also link my posts to both Twitter and Facebook anyway. So, Posterous just became a site too far for me. This is, after all, supposed to be fun.
And, because of that, i will not be commiting myself to daily social media posts. Partly because i tend not to make New Year resolutions anyway, but also because i don't wish to put any kind of pressure onto myself.
I have fun and enjoy what i do in the world of social media and i fully intend for that fun to continue.
I have found myself, in the past, feeling that i really ought to post a new YouTube video, or write a new blog post. But, thankfully, i've managed not to let those thoughts get to me. After all, quality is far more important than quantity.
I have no doubt that my social media output will remain the same during 2011 and who knows, it might even increase. But, it will be done at my own pace and i will be fully in control of it.
I wish Rich well in his aim to post once a day and i have no doubt that he is quite capable of producing worthwhile content, every day. I'll certainly be watching, reading and listening on a daily basis.
But, maybe, like so many New Year resolutions, this one will be broken?
And if it is, isn't that what rules and resolutions are there for in the first place. To be broken?
Go on, be a rebel and post when you want. You know it makes sense.
I was reading a personal blog post by Rich Samuels, one of the contributors to this blog, this morning.
In his post, Rich was saying how, in 2011, he intended to try and post one piece of social media every day. By this he meant either a YouTube video, a blog post, or an AudioBoo.
This was very timely, because i had noticed the other day that that is precisely what i've been tending to do recently myself. This has not been a conscious decision on my part, more a reflection on how often i tend to post onto the social media sites mentioned above.
In my comment on Rich's blog, i mentioned that i haven't even included sites such as Twitter and Facebook in my calculations. Yes, Twitter and Facebook are both social media sites, but they certainly don't require the sort of commitment that posting onto, say, YouTube does. So, i will continue to leave those sites out of the equation, at least for now.
Yesterday also marked a kind of personal social media milestone for me. Which was rather appropriate seeing as it was New Years Day. For yesterday i posted my 300th post onto my personal blog, Moose Musings.
Now don't go getting excited and start thinking that they have all been written blog posts, because they haven't. That is certainly how i used Blogger when i started out, but Moose Musings soon became a collection point for all my social media output. Hence the 300 posts.
I used to post everything onto Posterous as well, but have stopped doing that over time. This is mainly because it is so easy to get bogged down with all the sites we tend to use. Duplicating pieces of social media across several different sites can be very time consuming and you often find that it's the same people subscribed, or following you on all of them anyway.
I also link my posts to both Twitter and Facebook anyway. So, Posterous just became a site too far for me. This is, after all, supposed to be fun.
And, because of that, i will not be commiting myself to daily social media posts. Partly because i tend not to make New Year resolutions anyway, but also because i don't wish to put any kind of pressure onto myself.
I have fun and enjoy what i do in the world of social media and i fully intend for that fun to continue.
I have found myself, in the past, feeling that i really ought to post a new YouTube video, or write a new blog post. But, thankfully, i've managed not to let those thoughts get to me. After all, quality is far more important than quantity.
I have no doubt that my social media output will remain the same during 2011 and who knows, it might even increase. But, it will be done at my own pace and i will be fully in control of it.
I wish Rich well in his aim to post once a day and i have no doubt that he is quite capable of producing worthwhile content, every day. I'll certainly be watching, reading and listening on a daily basis.
But, maybe, like so many New Year resolutions, this one will be broken?
And if it is, isn't that what rules and resolutions are there for in the first place. To be broken?
Go on, be a rebel and post when you want. You know it makes sense.
Wednesday, 24 November 2010
Pointing The Camera At Yourself.
A friend of mine recently watched one of my vlogs (video blogs), for the very first time.
He told me this via Twitter and whilst he made no comment about the actual content of the video, the one comment he did make was to say that he could never do that himself.
This is a very common reaction when people, especially friends, see one of your vlogs for the first time.
I can understand that.
Pointing a video camera at yourself can seem a little strange, when you think about it.
There is a big difference, in my opinion, between recording yourself on a webcam, in the privacy of your own home and filming yourself out in the open.
We've all grown used to seeing people filming with video cameras in just about every imaginable situation. Maybe even when we haven't thought that the filming was appropriate?
But, how often have you seen somebody pointing that ubiquitous video camera at themselves and talking into it? And if you have, what did you think?
My own reaction and i suspect that of all vloggers, would be to inwardly congratulate that person (after all, i wouldn't want to disturb a fellow vlogger now would i?) and to wonder who they were, what they were recording and for what.
But, i imagine most other peoples reaction would be to look, maybe stare and to think that the person was a little weird. I've seen that reaction myself many times. I've also seen it when somebody has filmed me talking into a camera.
Most of us aren't natural extroverts and those first tentative steps into vlogging can be a little daunting.
I can't pretend to have completely overcome those feelings of self consciousness when i do it now. But, it's amazing how much more confident i am now at pointing the camera at myself, after 4 years of vlogging experience.
In fact, a recent experience proves just that point.
I was in London meeting up with some friends from San Francisco. People who i had met via YouTube and vlogging, as it happens.
At the end of our time together, i decided that i wanted to record a short vlog, talking about the day. Without thinking, i got out my camera and recorded a vlog between myself and one of my friends, in the street. This filming attracted some of the usual strange looks from a nearby construction worker. But, i didn't give it a thought.
Maybe, it's just easier to point that video camera at yourself, when you are not alone?
So, i guess what i'm really trying to say here is that the vlogger is really no different to anyone else. They just tend to use their cameras a bit differently to the rest of the population.
I doubt that many vloggers first pointed their video camera at themselves, outdoors. I suspect that we all first did that in the privacy of our own homes and that makes perfect sense.
I can still recall the first ever vlog that i made at home and how i felt when making it. It was a strange experience. But, once i'd done it, i got the bug and have never looked back.
You may well feel, like my friend did, that you couldn't ever do it yourselves. But, i felt the same myself at one time.
Since getting into vlogging and video making generally, 4 years ago, i have tried to encourage others to follow my path. Most vloggers will tell you that the vlogging experience has changed their life, in some way. I am no exception to that and would encourage everyone to, at least, give it a try. After all, what have you got to lose?
By all means, make those first tentative steps using the webcam on your computer. Many people record all their vlogs this way and why not?
Why not watch some vloggers on YouTube first, to see how others do it?
One thing to be mindful of here though. Don't be put off my the apparent good quality of the vloggers you watch and discover. Many of those vloggers will have been vlogging for years and they will all tell you that they are a lot better now, than when they first started out.
We all have to start somewhere. I still watch my very first vlog and cringe a little. So, you are not alone.
So, are you convinced yet?
If so, get recording and let me know how you get on.
Best of luck.
All of the above doesn't, of course, answer that age old question of why on earth you'd ever want to talk into a video camera in the first place.
What drives the vlogger to vlog?
What do you talk about?
Well, the answer to those questions is material for, potentially, many more blog posts.
Watch this space.
He told me this via Twitter and whilst he made no comment about the actual content of the video, the one comment he did make was to say that he could never do that himself.
This is a very common reaction when people, especially friends, see one of your vlogs for the first time.
I can understand that.
Pointing a video camera at yourself can seem a little strange, when you think about it.
There is a big difference, in my opinion, between recording yourself on a webcam, in the privacy of your own home and filming yourself out in the open.
We've all grown used to seeing people filming with video cameras in just about every imaginable situation. Maybe even when we haven't thought that the filming was appropriate?
But, how often have you seen somebody pointing that ubiquitous video camera at themselves and talking into it? And if you have, what did you think?
My own reaction and i suspect that of all vloggers, would be to inwardly congratulate that person (after all, i wouldn't want to disturb a fellow vlogger now would i?) and to wonder who they were, what they were recording and for what.
But, i imagine most other peoples reaction would be to look, maybe stare and to think that the person was a little weird. I've seen that reaction myself many times. I've also seen it when somebody has filmed me talking into a camera.
Most of us aren't natural extroverts and those first tentative steps into vlogging can be a little daunting.
I can't pretend to have completely overcome those feelings of self consciousness when i do it now. But, it's amazing how much more confident i am now at pointing the camera at myself, after 4 years of vlogging experience.
In fact, a recent experience proves just that point.
I was in London meeting up with some friends from San Francisco. People who i had met via YouTube and vlogging, as it happens.
At the end of our time together, i decided that i wanted to record a short vlog, talking about the day. Without thinking, i got out my camera and recorded a vlog between myself and one of my friends, in the street. This filming attracted some of the usual strange looks from a nearby construction worker. But, i didn't give it a thought.
Maybe, it's just easier to point that video camera at yourself, when you are not alone?
So, i guess what i'm really trying to say here is that the vlogger is really no different to anyone else. They just tend to use their cameras a bit differently to the rest of the population.
I doubt that many vloggers first pointed their video camera at themselves, outdoors. I suspect that we all first did that in the privacy of our own homes and that makes perfect sense.
I can still recall the first ever vlog that i made at home and how i felt when making it. It was a strange experience. But, once i'd done it, i got the bug and have never looked back.
You may well feel, like my friend did, that you couldn't ever do it yourselves. But, i felt the same myself at one time.
Since getting into vlogging and video making generally, 4 years ago, i have tried to encourage others to follow my path. Most vloggers will tell you that the vlogging experience has changed their life, in some way. I am no exception to that and would encourage everyone to, at least, give it a try. After all, what have you got to lose?
By all means, make those first tentative steps using the webcam on your computer. Many people record all their vlogs this way and why not?
Why not watch some vloggers on YouTube first, to see how others do it?
One thing to be mindful of here though. Don't be put off my the apparent good quality of the vloggers you watch and discover. Many of those vloggers will have been vlogging for years and they will all tell you that they are a lot better now, than when they first started out.
We all have to start somewhere. I still watch my very first vlog and cringe a little. So, you are not alone.
So, are you convinced yet?
If so, get recording and let me know how you get on.
Best of luck.
All of the above doesn't, of course, answer that age old question of why on earth you'd ever want to talk into a video camera in the first place.
What drives the vlogger to vlog?
What do you talk about?
Well, the answer to those questions is material for, potentially, many more blog posts.
Watch this space.
Thursday, 4 November 2010
Social Media - Local Connections.
Recently, i have been involved in helping to organise some local charity events/projects. Some more successfully than others i might add!
But, one thing that has struck me whilst doing this, is the way in which i have been communicating with the other people involved.
Yes, i have been using those, relatively, old fashioned methods of communciation, email and text. I have even been using the antiquated telephone system, albeit mainly the mobile/cell variety.
All of these methods have their uses and that will probably continue to be the case, for much time to come..
But, what has surprised me has been the way that i've found myself using social media sites, such as Facebook, to help with both the communication and organising of these events.
These sites, especially the messaging side of Facebook, have enabled me to quickly contact and keep in touch with all the people involved with these projects and all within one site too.
One of the beauties of doing this on Facebook, is that your interaction can be done both privately and publicly, depending on what you wish others to see. I know that other sites allow direct/privtae messaging. But, i do find Facebook to be especially good for this.
I must admit that i was never much a fan of the idea of Facebook.
I know that this probably sounds very familiar to those of you who may have read other blog posts that i've written here. But, Facebook, like Twitter before it, was a site that i had to be convinced to try out and more, or less dragged onto.
Even then i was not a big fan, at first. But, i have finally come to see it's worth and strangely enough, it is the way that i interact on Facebook with local people, that has helped to change my opinion of the site.
Now, that is somewthing that i never expected.
My experiences with social media had, until fairly recently anyway, been mainly with people from right across the world and not with people living on my doorstep. But, the advent of both Twitter and Facebook has changed that and has opened up my social media world to a brand new community, my local community.
Both Twitter and Facebook are social media sites on which my virtual life and my real life collide. Facebook, especially, does this and that has been a slightly strange experience at times. At first my Facebook experience essentially mirrored my time on YouTube. I interacted with the same people, albeit using our real names.
But, then the local aspect started to become more prevalent and this is what really took me by surprise. I never expected that collison of virtual and real worlds to happen. But, it is something that seems to work. It has also led to a blurring of the lines between those two worlds.
I have met, both virtually and in reality, many new people from my local area because of social media. People i would quite probably never have met and interacted with, without the aid of sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
This is an aspect of social media that does tend to get overlooked when people talk about social networking.
We all tend to think of social media as a global phenomenon. But, sometimes the most interesting people might live right around the corner from your house and you just never knew it.
Just because you live in the same town, or city, doesn't mean that you can't, or shouldn't use social media to interact with the people within them.
Social media has the power to enable you to meet and interact with people from countries throughout the world and i have met many interesting people precisely because of this.
But, don't forget those people who live in the same country, or even the town as you.
Who knows what you might be missing out on?
There is a famous saying, usually used in a totally different context, "Think globally, act locally"
Maybe we can put that saying to use into social media as well?
But, one thing that has struck me whilst doing this, is the way in which i have been communicating with the other people involved.
Yes, i have been using those, relatively, old fashioned methods of communciation, email and text. I have even been using the antiquated telephone system, albeit mainly the mobile/cell variety.
All of these methods have their uses and that will probably continue to be the case, for much time to come..
But, what has surprised me has been the way that i've found myself using social media sites, such as Facebook, to help with both the communication and organising of these events.
These sites, especially the messaging side of Facebook, have enabled me to quickly contact and keep in touch with all the people involved with these projects and all within one site too.
One of the beauties of doing this on Facebook, is that your interaction can be done both privately and publicly, depending on what you wish others to see. I know that other sites allow direct/privtae messaging. But, i do find Facebook to be especially good for this.
I must admit that i was never much a fan of the idea of Facebook.
I know that this probably sounds very familiar to those of you who may have read other blog posts that i've written here. But, Facebook, like Twitter before it, was a site that i had to be convinced to try out and more, or less dragged onto.
Even then i was not a big fan, at first. But, i have finally come to see it's worth and strangely enough, it is the way that i interact on Facebook with local people, that has helped to change my opinion of the site.
Now, that is somewthing that i never expected.
My experiences with social media had, until fairly recently anyway, been mainly with people from right across the world and not with people living on my doorstep. But, the advent of both Twitter and Facebook has changed that and has opened up my social media world to a brand new community, my local community.
Both Twitter and Facebook are social media sites on which my virtual life and my real life collide. Facebook, especially, does this and that has been a slightly strange experience at times. At first my Facebook experience essentially mirrored my time on YouTube. I interacted with the same people, albeit using our real names.
But, then the local aspect started to become more prevalent and this is what really took me by surprise. I never expected that collison of virtual and real worlds to happen. But, it is something that seems to work. It has also led to a blurring of the lines between those two worlds.
I have met, both virtually and in reality, many new people from my local area because of social media. People i would quite probably never have met and interacted with, without the aid of sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
This is an aspect of social media that does tend to get overlooked when people talk about social networking.
We all tend to think of social media as a global phenomenon. But, sometimes the most interesting people might live right around the corner from your house and you just never knew it.
Just because you live in the same town, or city, doesn't mean that you can't, or shouldn't use social media to interact with the people within them.
Social media has the power to enable you to meet and interact with people from countries throughout the world and i have met many interesting people precisely because of this.
But, don't forget those people who live in the same country, or even the town as you.
Who knows what you might be missing out on?
There is a famous saying, usually used in a totally different context, "Think globally, act locally"
Maybe we can put that saying to use into social media as well?
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
Not The Only Show In Town.
Talking about how we now migrate between different social media/networking sites.
Those older sites are not, now, the only show in town.
Here's a link to Ken's blog post, that i mentioned in this video:
http://socialmediajourneys.blogspot.com/2010/10/using-your-website-as-content-hub.html
Saturday, 16 October 2010
Using Your Website as a Content Hub
Not too many year ago, but ages ago in internet time, everybody was building personal websites. No knowledge of html or css or xml needed; services like GeoCities or Homestead (etc.) made it easy to use ready-made templates, upload your photos, type out your life story, and have a website.
Those services are now long gone, as people started considering their "home" as their profile page on a community site such as MySpace or Facebook. Another development was the replacement of the static content web page, with the dynamic content blog. Blogger (where this site is hosted) was one of the pioneers and still a major player, but WordPress and others have also risen to dominance here. Now add twitter to the mix, and podcasts, and photostreams, and videos..., and pretty soon you've got content spread across a half-dozen sites or more.
Personally, I regularly post content to three or four blogs, two Twitter accounts, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr (photos), Soundcloud (music), and Audioboo (podcast). Okay, maybe I'm a bit on the extreme end. But this is a social media blog you're reading, so I'm going to guess you just might appreciate my situation.
For some time I've struggled with how to effectively combine all these different content streams into a single, well-designed, website that presents all of my online output. I must not have been the only one wrestling with this issue, as two new services have recently popped up offering a solution: About.me and Flavors.me.
Flavors.me was the first to launch, and I quickly signed up (see my page here). I was given a choice of several basic layouts, simple instructions on choosing a background image (I uploaded my own), and a list of services to import my feeds from, including blogger, linkedin, facebook, flickr, twitter, etc. Within a few minutes my page was up and running and looking great.
The feed from each service (blog, twitter, etc.) is displayed as part of the page. Without leaving my flavors.me page you can seamlessly click through my content from a variety of sources. This was it - exactly what I'd been looking for forever. I finally had that one, single destination website that I could point people to and have all my content readily visible.
The free version of flavors.me did limit the number of feeds I could import, but I was happy enough to pay for the full version. I've also assigned one of my personal domains, kengoldstein.ca, to the page.
Then About.me launched. Even though I was happy with my Flavors.me site, I still wanted to try it out (see my page here). On first glance, it appears to be almost a clone of Flavors.me; choose a template, upload your background image, select your feeds to import, bang, you're in business.
But immediately frustrations surfaced. I still cannot get my background image to scale correctly. It either tiles or expands way beyond the window. And it will only allow me to include one blogger account or twitter account at a time. The other other blogs can be added as extra links, but will not display inline. For my purposes, these problems add up to a huge FAIL.
On the positive side, I gotta admit that About.me has the much better domain name. Flavors.me is, well, kinda silly. I don't care, as I use my own domain name, but still.
If you have multiple content streams and would like to combine them in a single, personal hub, you really should test them each out. Leave a comment below with which one you prefer, or if you use a different (and better?) solution.
Flavors.me - FTW! Silly name, and fee required for full features, but works like a dream. Exactly what I wanted.
About.me - When you launch second, you're supposed to improve on the original idea, not mess it up. FAIL!
Those services are now long gone, as people started considering their "home" as their profile page on a community site such as MySpace or Facebook. Another development was the replacement of the static content web page, with the dynamic content blog. Blogger (where this site is hosted) was one of the pioneers and still a major player, but WordPress and others have also risen to dominance here. Now add twitter to the mix, and podcasts, and photostreams, and videos..., and pretty soon you've got content spread across a half-dozen sites or more.
Personally, I regularly post content to three or four blogs, two Twitter accounts, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr (photos), Soundcloud (music), and Audioboo (podcast). Okay, maybe I'm a bit on the extreme end. But this is a social media blog you're reading, so I'm going to guess you just might appreciate my situation.
For some time I've struggled with how to effectively combine all these different content streams into a single, well-designed, website that presents all of my online output. I must not have been the only one wrestling with this issue, as two new services have recently popped up offering a solution: About.me and Flavors.me.
Flavors.me was the first to launch, and I quickly signed up (see my page here). I was given a choice of several basic layouts, simple instructions on choosing a background image (I uploaded my own), and a list of services to import my feeds from, including blogger, linkedin, facebook, flickr, twitter, etc. Within a few minutes my page was up and running and looking great.
The feed from each service (blog, twitter, etc.) is displayed as part of the page. Without leaving my flavors.me page you can seamlessly click through my content from a variety of sources. This was it - exactly what I'd been looking for forever. I finally had that one, single destination website that I could point people to and have all my content readily visible.
The free version of flavors.me did limit the number of feeds I could import, but I was happy enough to pay for the full version. I've also assigned one of my personal domains, kengoldstein.ca, to the page.
Then About.me launched. Even though I was happy with my Flavors.me site, I still wanted to try it out (see my page here). On first glance, it appears to be almost a clone of Flavors.me; choose a template, upload your background image, select your feeds to import, bang, you're in business.
But immediately frustrations surfaced. I still cannot get my background image to scale correctly. It either tiles or expands way beyond the window. And it will only allow me to include one blogger account or twitter account at a time. The other other blogs can be added as extra links, but will not display inline. For my purposes, these problems add up to a huge FAIL.
On the positive side, I gotta admit that About.me has the much better domain name. Flavors.me is, well, kinda silly. I don't care, as I use my own domain name, but still.
If you have multiple content streams and would like to combine them in a single, personal hub, you really should test them each out. Leave a comment below with which one you prefer, or if you use a different (and better?) solution.
Flavors.me - FTW! Silly name, and fee required for full features, but works like a dream. Exactly what I wanted.
About.me - When you launch second, you're supposed to improve on the original idea, not mess it up. FAIL!
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Tweet, Tweet, Tweet.
For somebody who is a, self confessed, social media junky, i was actually quite late onto Twitter.
I'm afraid that i was one of those people who, initially, thought that Twitter couldn't possibly be of any use to me. After all, what use is just 140 characters to somebody who regularly makes 10 minute long videos for YouTube, Or, whose blog posts could probably test the patience of a saint?
Yes, i was one of those who said, or says "I don't want to know what you had for breakfast" etc etc.
That is a common argument given by non Twitterers and i even heard this very point made by the actor Sir Michael Caine just last week. In his defence, Michael Caine has now joined the Twitterati and, just like me, has realised the error of his ways.
I was dragged, virtually kicking and screaming, onto Twitter in September, 2008.
That may well seem like a long time ago, especially in the world of the Internet. But, as somebody who, generally, signs up to most of the new social media sensations, i was actually quite late off of the mark.
Most of my online friends were already well and truly addicted to Twitter by then and it was in fact down to them that i signed up in the first place.
My moment of epiphany came during a road trip, with some fellow YouTubers, in the USA, during 2008..
It was during that trip that i saw, at first hand, the way that Twitter could and did connect people. It wasn't all about your choice of breakfast cereal after all.
Obviously, since that day, i've never looked back.
Like most Twitter users, the way that i use Twitter has evolved over the years and has led me in some interesting directions. Something that i may well talk about in future blog posts.
But, Twitter, the way that it is now used and how my own use has evolved, was brought home to me last week, when i was caught up in a local news story.
I have talked about aspects of this in a separate blog post.
What i realised after that event, was the way that Twitter is used, by myself and others, to spread the news and our coverage of it.
We can probably all think of recent major news stories in which Twitter has been used in this way. But, it really brings it home to you, when you are a part of it yourself.
I was very impresessed by the way that the vast majority of news organisations, radio and tv stations were using, watching and interacting onTwitter. It has become a major source of news for us all. This is something that has really crept up on everybody and something that i'm sure the founders of Twitter never considered when they first started the service.
Twitter has now become, for many including myself, a primary way of communicating with friends, family, contacts and even complete strangers.
It has also become my primary source of news coverage, from right across the world.
Twitter also links me to viral videos, interesting newspaper and magazine articles, blog posts, local events and much, much more that i would never have seen, or heard about, otherwise.
I, for one, would never have expected all of this when i, very tentatively, signed up to Twitter back in September 2008.
I guess that this just goes to show that things are not always what they seem?
If you have your own Twitter story to tell, please let us know. We'd love to hear it.
By the way, what did you have for breakfast?
I'm afraid that i was one of those people who, initially, thought that Twitter couldn't possibly be of any use to me. After all, what use is just 140 characters to somebody who regularly makes 10 minute long videos for YouTube, Or, whose blog posts could probably test the patience of a saint?
Yes, i was one of those who said, or says "I don't want to know what you had for breakfast" etc etc.
That is a common argument given by non Twitterers and i even heard this very point made by the actor Sir Michael Caine just last week. In his defence, Michael Caine has now joined the Twitterati and, just like me, has realised the error of his ways.
I was dragged, virtually kicking and screaming, onto Twitter in September, 2008.
That may well seem like a long time ago, especially in the world of the Internet. But, as somebody who, generally, signs up to most of the new social media sensations, i was actually quite late off of the mark.
Most of my online friends were already well and truly addicted to Twitter by then and it was in fact down to them that i signed up in the first place.
My moment of epiphany came during a road trip, with some fellow YouTubers, in the USA, during 2008..
It was during that trip that i saw, at first hand, the way that Twitter could and did connect people. It wasn't all about your choice of breakfast cereal after all.
Obviously, since that day, i've never looked back.
Like most Twitter users, the way that i use Twitter has evolved over the years and has led me in some interesting directions. Something that i may well talk about in future blog posts.
But, Twitter, the way that it is now used and how my own use has evolved, was brought home to me last week, when i was caught up in a local news story.
I have talked about aspects of this in a separate blog post.
What i realised after that event, was the way that Twitter is used, by myself and others, to spread the news and our coverage of it.
We can probably all think of recent major news stories in which Twitter has been used in this way. But, it really brings it home to you, when you are a part of it yourself.
I was very impresessed by the way that the vast majority of news organisations, radio and tv stations were using, watching and interacting onTwitter. It has become a major source of news for us all. This is something that has really crept up on everybody and something that i'm sure the founders of Twitter never considered when they first started the service.
Twitter has now become, for many including myself, a primary way of communicating with friends, family, contacts and even complete strangers.
It has also become my primary source of news coverage, from right across the world.
Twitter also links me to viral videos, interesting newspaper and magazine articles, blog posts, local events and much, much more that i would never have seen, or heard about, otherwise.
I, for one, would never have expected all of this when i, very tentatively, signed up to Twitter back in September 2008.
I guess that this just goes to show that things are not always what they seem?
If you have your own Twitter story to tell, please let us know. We'd love to hear it.
By the way, what did you have for breakfast?
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Citizen Journalists
Yesterday, i became a citizen journalist.
At around 6am yesterday, my wife told me that the radio was reporting that our local pier, here in Hastings, was on fire. So, being the social media junky that i am, i got up, grabbed my iPhone and digital camera and ran out the door as fast as i could. I didn't even brush my teeth!
Now, at this point, my only thought was to take some photos and maybe some video footage, mainly for my own use. If it was any good, i might then post it onto my various social media sites, just in case anyone may be interested. I didn't even bother to take my main video camera.
I also didn't know if the radio reports were true, or not.
It was only when i got down onto the seafront and saw the full extent of the fire, that i realised that this was something a little different. This was big.
As somebody said to me later in the day. Somebody that i only "met" yesterday via Twitter by the way. I was now recording history.
I can't say that i fully realised this at the time. But, i did know, straight away, that i had to record what i could and then pass it on.
So, i quickly took some photos, from a distance and then, literally, jogged along the seafront to get as near to the burning pier as i could.
As soon as i got close to the pier, i took some video footage with my phone and also some more photo's.
I then did something that i would not even have thought about doing, even a few weeks ago. I recorded an AudioBoo podcast
Somehow, i just knew that i should record something, describing what it was i was seeing right in front of my eyes.
So, where did that urge to record this historic event come from. Especially the AudioBoo?
I fully believe that it is my time using social media that did it. Somehow, using social media had prepared me for doing exactly what i did yesterday. Using social media had taught me how to do it. What to record, what to photograph, what to say and how.
Yes, other people were taking photographs and even video footage. But, as far as i'm aware, i was the only person who intended to share them in the way that i did. And i'm almost certain that i was the only person who thought to record some kind of audio commentary as well.
As i suggested earlier. I would never have thought about doing that, if i didn't use AudiBoo in the first place.
It was only then that i realised that there was no media presence around at all. No reporters, no tv crews, no microphones, or obvious news cameramen, or photographers.
I had suddenly become a citizen journalist.
Myself and my fellow onlookers were the only people recording this piece of local history and national news.
It was then that i realised that i needed to get home and get my footage, photo's and audio "out there", as soon as i could.
The first item i posted was the AudioBoo. Within 5 minutes of it going live, i receieved an email from AudioBoo, saying that they had "Featured" my post on their front page.
I then posted some of my photos onto TwitpPic. I followed that by quickly editing my video footage and uploading it to YouTube. All of these uploads were then linked to my Twitter and Facebook accounts.
To cut a long story short. Within an hour, i had been contacted by the BBC, the Brighton Argus newspaper and my local newspaper, who even came to my house to collect my video footage. I was also newly "followed" on Twitter by several radio stations, news organisations, reporters and local people.
My photo's, video and AudioBoo were Tweeted around the World. As well as being used and linked to on many websites. Including the Brighton Argus website, where one of my photos was used as a headline image.
As somebody else, commenting on my AudioBoo, said to me yesterday, "This really shows how journalism exists within the hands of everyone who has the technology"
I couldn't have put it better myself and this goes to show that we are all now potential citizen journalists. We are the people who are normally first on the scene of any major incident, or news story.
Citizen journalism and social media have combined to break and cover major news stories such as the protests in Iran and the Hudson River plane crash, amongst others.
And apart from enabling us to be the first to report the news to the world. Our continued use of social media is actually training us to do so.
We have the technology. So, let's use it.
Just use it wisely and safely please.
At around 6am yesterday, my wife told me that the radio was reporting that our local pier, here in Hastings, was on fire. So, being the social media junky that i am, i got up, grabbed my iPhone and digital camera and ran out the door as fast as i could. I didn't even brush my teeth!
Now, at this point, my only thought was to take some photos and maybe some video footage, mainly for my own use. If it was any good, i might then post it onto my various social media sites, just in case anyone may be interested. I didn't even bother to take my main video camera.
I also didn't know if the radio reports were true, or not.
It was only when i got down onto the seafront and saw the full extent of the fire, that i realised that this was something a little different. This was big.
As somebody said to me later in the day. Somebody that i only "met" yesterday via Twitter by the way. I was now recording history.
I can't say that i fully realised this at the time. But, i did know, straight away, that i had to record what i could and then pass it on.
So, i quickly took some photos, from a distance and then, literally, jogged along the seafront to get as near to the burning pier as i could.
As soon as i got close to the pier, i took some video footage with my phone and also some more photo's.
I then did something that i would not even have thought about doing, even a few weeks ago. I recorded an AudioBoo podcast
Somehow, i just knew that i should record something, describing what it was i was seeing right in front of my eyes.
So, where did that urge to record this historic event come from. Especially the AudioBoo?
I fully believe that it is my time using social media that did it. Somehow, using social media had prepared me for doing exactly what i did yesterday. Using social media had taught me how to do it. What to record, what to photograph, what to say and how.
Yes, other people were taking photographs and even video footage. But, as far as i'm aware, i was the only person who intended to share them in the way that i did. And i'm almost certain that i was the only person who thought to record some kind of audio commentary as well.
As i suggested earlier. I would never have thought about doing that, if i didn't use AudiBoo in the first place.
It was only then that i realised that there was no media presence around at all. No reporters, no tv crews, no microphones, or obvious news cameramen, or photographers.
I had suddenly become a citizen journalist.
Myself and my fellow onlookers were the only people recording this piece of local history and national news.
It was then that i realised that i needed to get home and get my footage, photo's and audio "out there", as soon as i could.
The first item i posted was the AudioBoo. Within 5 minutes of it going live, i receieved an email from AudioBoo, saying that they had "Featured" my post on their front page.
I then posted some of my photos onto TwitpPic. I followed that by quickly editing my video footage and uploading it to YouTube. All of these uploads were then linked to my Twitter and Facebook accounts.
To cut a long story short. Within an hour, i had been contacted by the BBC, the Brighton Argus newspaper and my local newspaper, who even came to my house to collect my video footage. I was also newly "followed" on Twitter by several radio stations, news organisations, reporters and local people.
My photo's, video and AudioBoo were Tweeted around the World. As well as being used and linked to on many websites. Including the Brighton Argus website, where one of my photos was used as a headline image.
As somebody else, commenting on my AudioBoo, said to me yesterday, "This really shows how journalism exists within the hands of everyone who has the technology"
I couldn't have put it better myself and this goes to show that we are all now potential citizen journalists. We are the people who are normally first on the scene of any major incident, or news story.
Citizen journalism and social media have combined to break and cover major news stories such as the protests in Iran and the Hudson River plane crash, amongst others.
And apart from enabling us to be the first to report the news to the world. Our continued use of social media is actually training us to do so.
We have the technology. So, let's use it.
Just use it wisely and safely please.
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
12Seconds Completes its Fifteen Minutes
Okay, I'm sure the title of this post is a bit trite, and has probably already been used, but I couldn't resist. For those who missed it, 12seconds.tv is (soon to be was) a micro-vlogging site, headquartered in Santa Cruz, CA, for the past three years or so, that yesterday announced they will be closing shortly.
Micro-vlogging? Let me explain it this way: What Twitter is to Blogger, 12seconds.tv was to YouTube. A video sharing site, but with the length of each video limited to, you got it, twelve seconds.
After a well-publicized launch it looked like 12seconds.tv was off to a good start, but the user-base never grew beyond the over-eager early adopter crowd (such as myself). Meanwhile, one founder was distracted with a new baby, the other founder battled cancer (he's feeling much better now), and the entire worldwide economy crashed.
Technical problems were also an issue, and certainly one of the problems I didn't use the site much after the initial rush. But the twelve second limit itself was an issue as well. Tweeting is easy and does not take much set-up or any time at all to post. Turning on your webcam, or even an iPhone app, getting lighting right, checking for background noise... it all takes a little more effort, including uploading your product only to find that you really needed 13 seconds.
Meanwhile, others have stepped up to fill the "post video to twitter" category without the twelve second limit.
An article today in the Guardian UK asks, "As 12seconds.tv closes, what is the future for video communities?" The article also notes that Seesmic has shifted focus from its original video service as well, but in so doing points out that:
While I often have trouble convincing my contemporaries of that fact (my collaborators here excepted), I have always had faith that the next generation will understand it innately. The Guardian article quotes Silicon Valley entrepreneur Jason Calacanis as saying very much the same thing:
Micro-vlogging? Let me explain it this way: What Twitter is to Blogger, 12seconds.tv was to YouTube. A video sharing site, but with the length of each video limited to, you got it, twelve seconds.
After a well-publicized launch it looked like 12seconds.tv was off to a good start, but the user-base never grew beyond the over-eager early adopter crowd (such as myself). Meanwhile, one founder was distracted with a new baby, the other founder battled cancer (he's feeling much better now), and the entire worldwide economy crashed.
Technical problems were also an issue, and certainly one of the problems I didn't use the site much after the initial rush. But the twelve second limit itself was an issue as well. Tweeting is easy and does not take much set-up or any time at all to post. Turning on your webcam, or even an iPhone app, getting lighting right, checking for background noise... it all takes a little more effort, including uploading your product only to find that you really needed 13 seconds.
Meanwhile, others have stepped up to fill the "post video to twitter" category without the twelve second limit.
An article today in the Guardian UK asks, "As 12seconds.tv closes, what is the future for video communities?" The article also notes that Seesmic has shifted focus from its original video service as well, but in so doing points out that:
"... community [is] humanised by the format of video which, while it demands more from its contributors, gives back more in the quality of interaction."I think that quote says it all. The quality of the interaction is what it's all about. Yes, it takes a certain type of person to be willing to turn on your webcam, shine the light in your own face, and talk to strangers. It's certainly not for everyone. But I know I've been rewarded for that effort with high quality friendships.
While I often have trouble convincing my contemporaries of that fact (my collaborators here excepted), I have always had faith that the next generation will understand it innately. The Guardian article quotes Silicon Valley entrepreneur Jason Calacanis as saying very much the same thing:
"The next generation will be able to do it more inherently, they will grow up knowing phones with Facetime and computers with iSight. Where our generation knows how to write a good quip in a comment, the next generation will know how to do that in video."Today we say goodbye to 12seconds.tv, but not to online video, or using video as the basis for building online community. In fact, that journey has barely yet begun.
Saturday, 2 October 2010
Why "Social Media Journeys"?
Well, the answer to that question is probably, if you're reading this, you are on a social media journey of your own. Whether you have realised that yet, or not.
We all got here from somewhere and part of the purpose of this blog, is to chart that personal journey.
Whether that be the story of how we got here in the first place, where we are trying to get to, what we've learned along the way. Or, just our experiences during that journey, both good and bad.
We all have a social media story to tell and the aim of this blog is to try and tell that story. Whether that story be mine, or yours.
On our individual journeys, we all stop off at different social media and networking sites. Be that Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace etc etc. And that list is getting ever longer.
We aim to talk about our own experiences with all of those sites.
One of the reasons for this is that social media is still a relatively small affair. It might not seem like it to those who are already here. But, there are billions of people throughout the world, who have yet to start on their own social media journey.
Over the next few years and especially in this age of ever increasing mobile internet use, many of those people will be embarking on their own personal journeys.
If we can help those new users in any way, by sharing our own experiences and assist their first faltering steps into the world of social media, this will have been worthwhile.
Another focus of this blog is a question i raised in a recent YouTube video announcing this venture.
That question is "How has social media changed, or how is it changing your life?"
I think we can safely say, that for the vast majority of us, our exposure to social media changes us in some way. Those changes can be both big and small. For some people the effects are, quite literally, life changing.
We aim to cover a wide variety of topics around this question. Talking about both the good and the bad effects of social media on our lives.
We also intend to talk about how social media has possibly changed our attitudes to the people that we interact with around the world.
There is also the question of how social media is changing the world in general.
We have probably all seen how social media has become a big buzz word in the world of advertising. Any business with an eye to the future is trying to muscle in to the world of social media. We'll be discussing the good and bad sides of this as well.
Well, i think that gives you all a flavour of what to expect in the future.
As you may have noticed, i have been joined on this blog by two fellow contributors.
Ken has been on the Internet and using very early forms of social media since the 1990's. Here is his story. So, he has wide experience of social media, both from a personal and from a business point of view.
I have known Ken for nearly 4 years, via YouTube etc. I finally got to meet him earlier in 2010, when i visited California, where he lives.
Rich is a relative newcomer to social media and will therefore be telling us about his first steps and experiences into this new world. This is his story. Rich also lives in California and has wide experience in film making.
I have only known Rich since early 2010. But, was lucky enough to meet up with him as well, during my trip to California.
We also aim to have guest posts from different people, telling us their own stories and discussing various different aspects of the social media experience.
So stay tuned. It promises to be an interesting and eventful future for us all.
It's good to have you along for the journey and be sure to tell your friends all about Social Media Journeys.
We all got here from somewhere and part of the purpose of this blog, is to chart that personal journey.
Whether that be the story of how we got here in the first place, where we are trying to get to, what we've learned along the way. Or, just our experiences during that journey, both good and bad.
We all have a social media story to tell and the aim of this blog is to try and tell that story. Whether that story be mine, or yours.
On our individual journeys, we all stop off at different social media and networking sites. Be that Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace etc etc. And that list is getting ever longer.
We aim to talk about our own experiences with all of those sites.
One of the reasons for this is that social media is still a relatively small affair. It might not seem like it to those who are already here. But, there are billions of people throughout the world, who have yet to start on their own social media journey.
Over the next few years and especially in this age of ever increasing mobile internet use, many of those people will be embarking on their own personal journeys.
If we can help those new users in any way, by sharing our own experiences and assist their first faltering steps into the world of social media, this will have been worthwhile.
Another focus of this blog is a question i raised in a recent YouTube video announcing this venture.
That question is "How has social media changed, or how is it changing your life?"
I think we can safely say, that for the vast majority of us, our exposure to social media changes us in some way. Those changes can be both big and small. For some people the effects are, quite literally, life changing.
We aim to cover a wide variety of topics around this question. Talking about both the good and the bad effects of social media on our lives.
We also intend to talk about how social media has possibly changed our attitudes to the people that we interact with around the world.
There is also the question of how social media is changing the world in general.
We have probably all seen how social media has become a big buzz word in the world of advertising. Any business with an eye to the future is trying to muscle in to the world of social media. We'll be discussing the good and bad sides of this as well.
Well, i think that gives you all a flavour of what to expect in the future.
As you may have noticed, i have been joined on this blog by two fellow contributors.
Ken has been on the Internet and using very early forms of social media since the 1990's. Here is his story. So, he has wide experience of social media, both from a personal and from a business point of view.
I have known Ken for nearly 4 years, via YouTube etc. I finally got to meet him earlier in 2010, when i visited California, where he lives.
Rich is a relative newcomer to social media and will therefore be telling us about his first steps and experiences into this new world. This is his story. Rich also lives in California and has wide experience in film making.
I have only known Rich since early 2010. But, was lucky enough to meet up with him as well, during my trip to California.
We also aim to have guest posts from different people, telling us their own stories and discussing various different aspects of the social media experience.
So stay tuned. It promises to be an interesting and eventful future for us all.
It's good to have you along for the journey and be sure to tell your friends all about Social Media Journeys.
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Social Media Journeys
How has Social Media changed you?
An introduction to this new project.
Imported from my YouTube channel.
If you want to contribute, please get in touch & tell us your own story.
I already have one new contributor.
A beach vlog.
Blog Post - YouTube Is A Social Network
A blog post originally posted on my Moose Musings blog on 25th July, 2010:
Blog post - YouTube is a Social Network
Sorry for the confusion, after my last post. But, i suddenly realised that i'd missed this older post and felt that it needed to be added.
Hopefully, that's the last of the older posts and we can now move onto new ones.
Blog post - YouTube is a Social Network
Sorry for the confusion, after my last post. But, i suddenly realised that i'd missed this older post and felt that it needed to be added.
Hopefully, that's the last of the older posts and we can now move onto new ones.
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Where did they come from?
Anyone who might have stumbled upon this new blog. Would probably be wondering why there are already 23 videos and 3 blog posts here. After all, this Social Media Journeys blog was only created a few days ago.
Well, all will be revealed throughout the blog posts that will follow, now that this new blog is up and running properly.
But, a brief explanation is that, all of the posts, below this one, have been taken from either my YouTube channel , or from my other blog, Moose Musings.
The reason for this is that i have been talking and making videos about Social Media for around 4 years now. And i felt that those videos and blog posts were as valid here as they were on their original channels. I also felt that they are as valid now as they were when they were made.
They cover the same sort of topics that this blog will, hopefully, be covering. And although some of them are a few years old, they are a part of my own social media journey. Looking back on them shows me how far i have come and how much i've learned along the way.
It is always interesting for me to look back on the videos especially and i hope that it might be interesting and possibly valuable to you as well.
We all have to start somewhere and watching somebody elses first faltering steps, on their own social media journey, can be a very valuable learning experience.
After all, the longest journey starts with just a single step.
Well, all will be revealed throughout the blog posts that will follow, now that this new blog is up and running properly.
But, a brief explanation is that, all of the posts, below this one, have been taken from either my YouTube channel , or from my other blog, Moose Musings.
The reason for this is that i have been talking and making videos about Social Media for around 4 years now. And i felt that those videos and blog posts were as valid here as they were on their original channels. I also felt that they are as valid now as they were when they were made.
They cover the same sort of topics that this blog will, hopefully, be covering. And although some of them are a few years old, they are a part of my own social media journey. Looking back on them shows me how far i have come and how much i've learned along the way.
It is always interesting for me to look back on the videos especially and i hope that it might be interesting and possibly valuable to you as well.
We all have to start somewhere and watching somebody elses first faltering steps, on their own social media journey, can be a very valuable learning experience.
After all, the longest journey starts with just a single step.
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
4 Years And Counting.
Originally posted on YouTube on 13th August, 2010.
That was the 4th anniversary of opening my YouTube account.
Some reflections of my time on YouTube.
I actually posted my first video on 25th August 2006:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSKnhJ...
This is Our Vloggerhood.
Originally posted on YouTube on 19th April, 2007.
This is one of the YouTube videos that i am most proud of.
Collaboration videos are one of the best things about the whole YouTube experience.
A Vlogger's Code.
These are not rules, just ideas and ideals.
It's about responsibility and respect. It's about honour and integrity. It's about entertaining and enlightening.
A collaboration with:
http://www.youtube.com/ohcurt & http://www.youtube.com/thefrozenghost
Music supplied by: www.g-manink.com
andymooseman - The Brand
Originally posted on YouTube on 12th March, 2010.
Are we all becoming a brand?
A beach vlog.
My blog - Moose Musings:
http://andymooseman.blogspot.com/
Sub 4 What?
Originally posted on YouTube on 20th February, 2010.
Talking about subscribers on YouTube.
Another beach vlog.
Re: Social Media - How Connected Are You?
Originally posted to YouTube on 12th November, 2009.
This was another response video. This time to: http://www.youtube.com/user/SunnyDazS...
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