It was exactly a year ago - long before Google bought YouTube for $1.6 billion - I had pointed out that the video bubble was getting out of control. Well, it seems like I was a tad too early, for funding has flown freely into video companies/start-ups, and the buzz continues to grow around everything-online-video. “With a pinch of video all your troubles will go away,” quips Liz over on NewTeeVee.
This is especially true of news sites that are using video clips, but Pete Clifton, head of BBC News Interactive recently said that video for the sake of video is going to be trouble, and in the end might turn off viewers. He points out relevance as crucial for news video clips, if media giants want to harness the power of video properly. I think one of the better examples of the relevant use of video is by David Pogue over on The New York Times.
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11:09 PM PT
[...] Luft, Om Malik, and Liz Gannes all highlight how the BBC is looking for greater relevance and added value in [...]
12:37 PM PT
[...] GigaOM News Videos, what are they good for… Relevance « hmmmm (tags: video online_newspapers) [...]
7 comments so far
3:48 PM PT
Video drives me nuts when used but not needed…I wish they would remember…
1) With text I can read faster than you can talk.
2) With audio I can listen while doing other things including driving.
3) Video requires my attention & time, I don’t have any and you just lost an audience member.
9:32 PM PT
Content and relevance is king, just as it is in the blogosphere and most other sources of information and entertainment. Streaming video tends to be our current “darling-of-the-week”. Its’ superfluous use is reminiscent of so many animated GIF’s that were all the rage years ago. It’s a lot like my kid getting a new Wii; it’s all he does with his free time right now. Eventually, the novelty wears off and the console becomes just another part of his entertainment, instead of the only game in town.
11:16 PM PT
I think as far as online video and the news goes, the use of video in complementary settings that support the overall story should work.
When I search out news sites, very seldom will I use the video available, but I do appreciate it when I read a story that I want to follow up on.
1:37 AM PT
this video craze is a typical case of solving the wrong problem or worse not having a slightest idea about the real issue faced by a video enthusiast like me .
what all these niche video site are trying to do is to Sort and arrange video by “Human Powered Classification ” and Tagging . but what i actually need is a way to search inside the video . by visual , voice and conversation . one of My Friend who is a French language scholar is having a hard time to find out any video /audio site for where conversation is being done in French . this is not an easy task. Example of Riya.com shows that developing a technology to enable inside the video/visual search is an herculean task .
so they are doing the second best thing . i am not sure how good this can be .
8:16 AM PT
@ prashant, your problem is being solved. Go check out (link) - a practical and effective way of searching in-audio/video rather than relying on manual (suspect) tagging.
12:22 PM PT
I think we need to look at the generation that adopted YouTube. It’s the one that was nurtured on short burst, frenetic MTV clips. Video is relevant and these kids and the generation behind them will be using desktop and mobile devices. I doubt that the family that watched the Tube in the living room 15 years ago will be the family doing the same 15 years from now.
1:39 PM PT
Oh, for decent content. The problem with the video isn’t the medium — in-page video’s a great technical device — it’s that the content doesn’t add. The overwhelming majority of the content on YouTube sucks, of course, but what’s really scary is that user tagging isn’t turning out to help the way we thought it would.
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