Monday, November 27, 2006
User Videos Go Corporate
User generated video and the YouTubers of the world are en vogue today, but the hype has probably surpassed the long term economic value of watching content created by the average Joanne.Corporate America has slowly started to warm to the "industry" through acquisitions and by making capital for startups such as Break.com, and companies have started to offer people instant fame (and sometimes cash) for creating videos about their products.
For example, Atom Entertainment is expanding its UGV section and has added Blinkx' search technology. The NFL and Doritos have teamed up for a contest where the best UGV's will be shown during the SuperBowl, the most-watched program of the year.
As I've said before, the people who create the videos that generate the traffic deserve to be compensated for their work, but some part of me believes that corporate contests will diminish the creativity and spontaneity that has driven the success of YouTube. As artists in many fields will tell you, there is a difference between creating something for yourself that you hope is interesting to others, and trying to appeal to a mass audience and making money.
Just as reality TV and game shows were "it" for a short time, the fascination with user generated content has probably reached its zenith and will start to fade. UGV isn't going away, but it may never be as popular again with Madison Avenue and Silicon Valley as it is today.
Posted By Jason Dowdell at 02:12 PM
Permanent Link: User Videos Go Corporate
| Comments (0)
Subscribe to The MarketingShift Feed