Every visual storyteller needs to know the mechanics of the craft. That’s never been more true than today – in the age of You Tube. But what do you say when you turn on the camera?
Discussion in new media guru Drew Keller’s MCDM (University of Washington) COM 583 class Monday night, centered on how we consume You Tube “stories” and how that consumption defines us more than what we watch. Amateur producers (that’s you and me) affect the way we consume it. Studies show that we can watch You Tube for hours because the content is seemingly endless.
In Monday’s class we examined how You Tube has become so prevalent in today’s culture that it’s becoming a social network in and of itself. We gravitate toward those who watch the content we watch ourselves. We examined the video diary phenomenon and how deep that well appears to be as well.
As an award-winning TV news veteran, it’s difficult at times for me to assimilate into this new home-made video culture. I hate to admit it but I had become a TV snob. I come from an industry where I was among the select few who were given the keys to the broadcast machine. You had to work hard to get those keys. I always felt like you had to earn them. Not anymore. Today all you need is a You Tube account, an i-phone and something to say.
All too often it’s that third component that’s missing in You Tube content. It’s my hope that when I post something on You Tube I will at least have something to say.
Shouldn’t we all expect at least that much?
the repurposed journalist 