Videoblogging and the co-construction of users and technology.
When Mica goes to work or visits friends in Manhattan, she takes a small digital videocamera, and shoots video of anything that captures her attention. At night, she makes little movies and puts them on her Typepad blog. Mica is a videoblogger.
Videoblogging isn’t made easy for Mica though. After lots of practice it still takes her a while to post an entry. Most videobloggers use 3 or 4 different programs to create a post. There are bandwidth concerns, and discussions about people linking to video. Because it’s complex, not many people post regular videoblog entries. Videoblogging prety much stands where the web was in 1996, despite the fact that the basic technical capabilities have been available for years.
When a lot of different elements interlock in complex way to form a system, a useful way of untangling the complexities of the system is to think of it as an ecology. In an ecology, elements depend on each other. The ecology of videoblogging is a complex one, and there are many, interlocked reasons why videoblogging hasn’t taken off in a big way yet. Bandwidth limits videoblogging as much or more as the lack of simple tools does. The lack of an audience is a problem, as is the lack of examples and easy viewing tools.
Bandwidth, authoring tools, audience, viewing tools, specialized hosting services, language and the lack of standards are all parts of the videoblogging ecology. The challenge is to stimulate the development of the crucial parts of the ecology, after which the other parts will fall in place. This is called a tipping point - videoblogging will not become popular slowly, it will become popular suddenly. As a comparison, on Plasticbag.org there was a good writeup recently of the audioblogging ecology. The videoblogging ecology is still in an even earlier stage. But things are happening.
Linking is a crucial part of videoblogging. Videos suck up attention (although less so than audio - the images seem to make it easier to watch while thinking about something else, bringing back your attention when needed). It’s hard to skip parts you’re not interested in. It’s hard to scan (although fast forward kinda works). Its hard to discuss a specific part of a video if you can’t link.
The technology of linking into video has been around for years, but was always neglected. For a while now, Jon Udell, realizing the importance of linking to stimulate conversations, has been reverse-engineering linking into video and audio. He’s had some success: now, if you’re listening to audio at the Gilmore Gang, there is a little tool that makes it easy to link to a certain point within the audio, so you can comment on it. Example: "Jon continues to explain the need for random-access players and supporting URLs [clip] and standards and why he thinks players will ultimately become authoring tools." Even better: you don’t need a streaming server to provide this functionality: a simple HTTP server can do this. Linking to a point within a video stream is a bit more complex (with the different formats and all), but it can be done. Here’s a technical writeup, and here’s an experimental web-based tool that lets you link to a point within a Realplayer video.
Bandwidth is a major challenge. Videofiles are large, so bandwidth can become a problem. Getting hit with bandwidth charges (most hosts charge about US$1 per additional Gig) is no fun. Video on the web will never scale the way television scales: with TV, it doesn’t matter how big the audience is. That’s a constraint, but constraints are not necessarily bad. We just have to stop thinking of videoblogging as a copy of what movies or television is doing. We can’t copy them, and we shouldn’t.
Meanwhile, we still need to be able to control bandwidth. It shouldn’t be too hard, but just as linking within a media stream, no easy open source product seems to exist. I’ve been thinking about using Apache logs to log bandwidth usage, and then using PHP (or your favourite language) to dynamically serve a different size videofiles (using SMIL) depending on how much bandwidth is left. Ideas are welcome. Maybe Apache’s mod_throttle is another part of the solution?
Once we get the bandwidht managing problem under control, pretty much any old host can be used. We don’t really need streaming servers and all that.
Peer to peer is another partial solution for the bandwidth problem. It lets you share large files without eating up your server bandwidth. BitTorrent is a P2P system that lets you distribute small files that, when a user clicks on a link, download movies from other people - not from your server. So you don’t get charged for bandwidth. BitTorrent is still a geeks game though. Luckily a new project called BattleTorrent is trying to change that.
RSS enclosures are a part of RSS that lets you embed bittorrent files in your newsfeed. This means that someone can subscribe to your newsfeed and, if they want, automatically start downloading video overnight so it’s ready for them in the morning. Adam Curry has been experimenting with this a lot. Personal TV channels, a term coined by David Winer.
Video formats and players are a confusing mess as well (Real, Quicktime and Windows Media, and the open source folks), but the reality is: we can all see most of the stuff out there, if we have broadband. For me, this is less of an issue, and certainly not an element of the ecology that can be easily fixed.
The first person I ever heard actually utter the words "participatory journalism" was Drazen Pantic ("Politics happens on the couch"). I actually have it on video. I met Drazen Pantic for the first time in a gallery in Soho while talking about videoblogging. The dream is this: if people all over the world have a media outlet, they can share a lot of political information. Drazen is working on a project to do just that, called Open4all.info. The possibilities of videoblogging to make a social and political difference are there. Stuart Hughes is a BBC journalist, and his videoblog gives a whole new perspective to the news. Steve Garfield videoblogged the DNC convention. Talk to US invites people from all over the world to send in 30 second video messages to talk to the people in the US. Remember the revolution will not be televised? It might be videoblogged. If you like books, check out Joe Trippi ’s The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. Be the media!
The co-construction of users and technology.
Here’s the point I’m trying to make with this article. When Robert Fulton invented the steamboat in 1807, he didn’t just solve the problem of getting a steam engine to propel his boat. The technical pieces of the puzzle had been around for a while. He also solved a legal problem by negotiating with the New York state legislature as to what speed was required for his steamboat. He knew that his low-pressure boat would have limited speed, so he convinced the legislature to modify the terms under which he would be awarded a monopoly for transportation on the Hudson River. (p. 176 Shaping Technology, Building Society.)
The videoblogging challenge is both technical and social. Not separately technical and social, the two are intimately connected. You cannot develop the technology without developing the community.
Here’s what’s important: the dream of IP video and audio empowering users doesn’t have to happen. It’s not a technologically necessecary outcome. That’s the mistake many of us geeks make - believing that technology drives history. Every little experiment we do is a small step on the co-creation of users and technology, and the values we put in those experiments will continue to reverberate for years. Empowering people. Simple technology. No high production values. Back and forth community video. Moments and conversations. Getting to know each other.
When Joho the Blog blogged a video reply to Charles Cooper’s article at CNET, as an experiment, not everyone agreed on the effectiveness of that approach. Clearly, we’re still figuring out the language of videoblogging. This is a time of experimenting, of pioneers. Here they are: Mica Scalin (posts a LOT), Steve Garfield (quickly becoming the poster boy for videoblogging), Steve’s mom, The Dane, Charlene, Jay Dedman (pushing videoblogging into the mainstream - here’s a long videointerview with him), Shannon, Adrian Miles (MIT experiments), Tim Hall, Eric Rice, Peter Van Dijck, Chris (the human dog), Juston Johnson (started and runs vidblogs.com, a collection of videoblogs ), Stuart Hughes (a BBC journalist and videoblogger), Olsen (proving the very real connection between videoblogging and karaoke), Andreas Haugstrup Pedersen (giving an academic perspective), Daily Experience (trying to be a daily videoblog), video-link (a Japanese videoblog), disinfotainment (streaming videoblog by Charles Eicher with commentary on Japanese and US media), videoblog.tv. Then there are collective video blogs: Tropism (an arty collective in the Nederlanths), vidblogs.com. I am forgetting some here… You also may want to check out unmediated.org, an excellent collective blog tracking the tools that decentralize the media, http://demandmedia.net, found video from all over the web, Videoblogging.info, a new site that wants to aggregate videoblogs. I probably forgot a few. Videoblogging is getting lots of attention in the press as well. If you’d rather read a (free) book: Dan Gillmor ’s We the Media is a good start, or buy Joe Trippi ’s The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.
Finally, How users matter is a great (social science) book relevant to the title of this article - the co-construction of users and technology. A must read.
(And then I haven’t even mentioned moblogging video with cellphones.)
August 8th, 2004 at 10:12 am
This is a very helpful and inspiring explanation. Funny, i probably do post video more frequently than most but understand the tech junk the least. I am just thrilled to have the chance to put theory into practice.
August 8th, 2004 at 11:12 am
[shameless plug] I don’t know at which point a tool like this http://www.arstdesign.com/articles/avs could help the creation and posting of link to clips, and/or provide alternative lower bandwidth related ways to show video content on web pages. Well, you get the idea.
August 9th, 2004 at 12:22 am
Technical issues and the deaf
Peter has taken time to collect some of the technical issues in videoblogging, and Rob Wilks videoblogs in sign language.
August 9th, 2004 at 2:14 am
This little essay is a touchtstone.
“You cannot develop the technology without developing the community.”
Yes yes yes
August 9th, 2004 at 3:04 am
All I can say is thank you for this. I’m so inspired now to get video blogging again!
August 9th, 2004 at 7:08 pm
Via Guide to Ease, une brochettes de vidéoblogs. Joho the Blog Mica Scalin Steve Garfield Steve’s mom The Dane Charlene Jay Dedman long videointerview with him) Shannon Adrian Miles Tim Hall Eric Rice Peter Van Dijck Chris (the human dog)…
September 9th, 2004 at 10:18 am
Videoblogging and the co-construction of users and technology
Peter van Dijck summarizes the first couple months of the videoblogging mailing list….
February 8th, 2006 at 1:39 am
Hello! I never installed blog software and need to for my theme on disaster recovery journal.Can you have multiple blogs on what domain? Is that feasible?. A Beginner, ROLLAND jacksonville disaster recovery
February 8th, 2006 at 10:37 am
Hi, is there a way to receive your blog feed in my daily email? Sarah in San Antonio
February 8th, 2006 at 6:45 pm
What is up! I never installed blog software and need to for my theme on data free recovery tool.What type of software do you use? Is there a ton of maintenance that goes along with it?. A New Starter, JERROLD disaster kentucky recovery
February 9th, 2006 at 12:34 pm
“Great blog. Found your blog while searching for more information at yahoo about compaq tablet pc. Your blog has quite a lot of interesting thoughts. Keep up the good work, :)
Cheers,
adobe acrobat writer
February 11th, 2006 at 6:05 pm
I was searching the web and found your entry. I really like your site and found it worth while reading through the posts. I am looking to publish a comprehensive site reviewing many different articles and blogg. Please feel free to take a look at my blog at karaoke machine reviews and add anything your want.
February 13th, 2006 at 12:28 pm
Very true. You always seem to get your facts right.
Avax
February 15th, 2006 at 12:21 pm
Hi there, I just thought I would stop by and say hello. It’s been a hectic but very worthwhile last few days for me. In searching for more sql web hosting services related info on the Internet, I came across your site. I find your content really interesting and I thought to write some words. It’s been a great help in collecting more info on sql web hosting services. Thanks again and have a great day!
February 15th, 2006 at 3:56 pm
Just thought I would stop by and say “hello”. It’s been a hectic
but very worthwhile last few days for me. In searching for more related info on the Internet, I came across your site. I appreciate your content and I really appreciate your this post! It’s been a great help in collecting more info on terminal server software. Thanks again and have a great day!
February 16th, 2006 at 8:56 pm
Hi, I never installed blog software and need to for my theme on disaster recovery plan small business.Can you add your blog as a subdirectory of your domain if you already paid for domain?. Thanks for your effort, ABRAHAM
February 17th, 2006 at 8:52 pm
Wow this is a nice site. :0) I like the comments even though I don’t 100% agree with all of them. I am a grad student at the University of Sacred Heart in Connecticut. If you don’t mind I will use your blog as a example for my semester project that I am doing on the internet and ecommerce. If you reject the thought send me a quick email
-Corey
February 17th, 2006 at 10:38 pm
Great blog. Found your blog while searching for more information at yahoo about best table pc . Your blog has quite a lot of interesting thoughts. Keep up the good work!!
March 11th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
When researching Web hosting providers to consider for our clients, we take many factors into consideration. http://www.webdomain.com includes stability, features, support, cost and ease-of-use for our customers. http://www.webdomain.com offers the most solid packages around and is a reputable name you can trust. The benefits make it easy for us, and our clients. This is why we recommend http://www.webdomain.com again and again!
March 11th, 2006 at 4:47 pm
When researching Web hosting providers to consider for our clients, we take many factors into consideration. Webdomain.com include stability, features, support, cost and ease-of-use for our customers. Webdomain.com offers the most solid packages around and is a reputable name you can trust. The benefits make it easy for us, and our clients. This is why we recommend Webdomain.com again and again!
April 18th, 2006 at 2:27 pm
Congrartulations on this most excellent Blog
April 19th, 2006 at 3:15 am
This is a truly excellent Blog
June 21st, 2006 at 4:57 pm
ONLY $1.79! On Sale Now .Info domains! Visit us! Enter your site for free advertising. Totally Free!
June 28th, 2006 at 11:36 pm
I think you are doing a great job on your blog, keep up the good work. If you get a chance visit my site. Thanks
http://www.officialmoviedownloads.com/psp-blend/
July 2nd, 2006 at 10:42 pm
I was out surfing the blogs and came across yours, great job. Keep up the good work. If you get a chance check out my website.
http://moviesexplosion.biz/psp-play/phc/
July 6th, 2006 at 6:58 am
let see .
July 6th, 2006 at 10:29 pm
let see
August 6th, 2006 at 10:49 pm
Great blog. Found your blog while searching for more information at yahoo about PSP Downloads. Your blog has quite a lot of interesting thoughts. Keep up the good work,
Cheers,
August 8th, 2006 at 7:38 pm
Hey, I was out surfing the blogs and ran into yours. It wasnt exactly what I was searching for but I found it interesting. I have a site that you may be interested fi you like PSP Movies, give it a look if you get a chance.
August 13th, 2006 at 11:35 pm
Brilliant blog you have .I like the comments and topics you discuss here.Although this is not the information,I was hoping to find with my search.I believe it’s great when you come across a genuine subject that makes sense.Good luck in all your endeavors.If you have the chance.Maybe you could stop by my new web site.How to get free internet advertising.
August 18th, 2006 at 2:26 pm
I’ve use up all my search engine sick days, so I’m calling in dead.
search engine ranking
August 20th, 2006 at 10:33 pm
Creative thinking using this amazing blog to catch your readers attention.I was searching the net when your blog caught my eye.It is definitely made a mark on the internet.I will have to bookmark you for future reference.Please keep me in mind if you ever need free internet advertising for your thoughts.
http://www.mybusinessmarketingcenter.com
August 27th, 2006 at 12:41 pm
I loved your post! I came across your blog and it really caught my attention, Ill be sure to come back for more! Keep up the good work!
August 27th, 2006 at 12:48 pm
Great site!!!
September 3rd, 2006 at 10:30 am
I enjoyed reading your blog and will definitely bookmark it. Keep up the good work!
September 8th, 2006 at 8:14 am
Good day Mate ,nice web blog you have here.I stumbled across it through some searches that I was doing on advertising.They say you need web presence if you plan on being a genuine resource for visitors.
I increased my visibility 400% with this amazing new web site.it covers free internet advertising ,free web site advertising and credit repair services.Stop by if you need to be noticed in a big way.
http://www.mybusinessmarketingcenter.com
September 10th, 2006 at 10:05 am
I enjoyed reading your blog, if you get a chance check out my website.
September 20th, 2006 at 10:32 pm
I like what you did with the design of your blog! Compliments. Regards,
September 26th, 2006 at 9:15 pm
A very nice website !! Very well Done !!!
September 27th, 2006 at 8:54 pm
Cool blog, really liked the last article.
I’ll be back :-)
If you have time check out my site
October 13th, 2006 at 2:11 pm
Find the Best Credit Card Offers online. Low Apr Credit Cards, 0 Apr Credit Cards and every major credit card application online.
October 14th, 2006 at 12:23 am
Find the Best Credit Card Offers online. Low Apr Credit Cards, 0 Apr Credit Cards and every major credit card application online. The Best credit card offers available online!
October 20th, 2006 at 4:53 am
Find the Best Credit Card Offers online. Low Apr Credit Cards, 0 Apr Credit Cards and every major credit card application online.
October 20th, 2006 at 6:03 pm
Find the Best Credit Card Offers online. Low Apr Credit Cards, 0 Apr Credit Cards and every major credit card application online. Best Online!
October 31st, 2006 at 12:02 am
The best of the best male enhancement online!
November 9th, 2006 at 11:20 pm
Natural Male enhancement.
November 10th, 2006 at 7:44 am
Natural Male enhancement pill-pills
November 10th, 2006 at 11:37 pm
Great site-Look!
November 11th, 2006 at 1:31 am
Male enhancement pill-pills for you!
November 11th, 2006 at 8:18 am
Male enhancement made easy.
November 11th, 2006 at 1:04 pm
Male enhancement made easy and educational.
November 11th, 2006 at 11:54 pm
Male enhancement for you!
November 12th, 2006 at 12:13 am
Male enhancement for real!
November 12th, 2006 at 1:04 pm
Find the best Male enhancement pill online!
November 12th, 2006 at 3:00 pm
Male enhancement for you now!
November 12th, 2006 at 3:53 pm
Male enhancement is here.
November 12th, 2006 at 8:53 pm
Natural male enhancement is really good!
November 12th, 2006 at 9:44 pm
natural male enhancement for all men
November 12th, 2006 at 10:43 pm
natural male enhancement is for real!
November 13th, 2006 at 8:24 am
male enhancement pill great deals
November 13th, 2006 at 8:42 am
male enhancement pill for those in need.
November 13th, 2006 at 9:19 am
male enhancement pill xxxxx
November 13th, 2006 at 9:36 am
male enhancement pill yyy
November 13th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
male enhancement ffkk
November 13th, 2006 at 2:12 pm
male enhancement ffkkjjh
November 15th, 2006 at 8:06 pm
Male Enhancement 1
March 9th, 2011 at 2:16 am
[...] Van Dijck of Guide to Ease today posts this: Videoblogging and the co-construction of users and technology. When Mica goes to work or visits [...]