Viddler: Video fulfills its 'rich' media promise

Just been introduced to Viddler.com by colleague Andy Donovan and at first gawk I love it.
What viddler allows is the opportunity to move video from poor man's TV to the rich media it so often claims to be.
With Viddler you the (community formerly known as the) audience get to participate. You get to tag the video with your comments which can appear in a timeline as the video plays.
In short, it enables the conversation at in a low-barrier-to-entry way. You don't have to record a video response, edit it and upload it. You can simply comment - just as you might on a blog.
Neat.

It's the best example yet of what I was calling for in Video Is Poor Media - Until It Loses Its TV Envy.

"Wouldn't it be better if you could:

1. At least rate and comment on any video content (an absolutely minimum requirement).
2. Insert your comments as text overlaying the video at the point they were relevant (subtitles if you like).
3. Add your comments as video at any point you choose (upload a quick clip from your phone or webcam)
4. Insert other peoples videos to make their or your point
5. Add an image, or draw a picture, if that's the way you prefer to 'talk'.
6. Change the soundtrack to one of your own devising.
7. Connect to discuss in real time with other (like-minded) people watching it right now (youtube offers this without the brackets...)
8. Some other cool stuff you've just thought of (post as a comment!)
9. Save it all as your own version to post or share as and where you wish.

Rich media? Think about enabling conversation

In previous posts I've wittered on about the how the 'rich media' fantasy of video leads us all too often back to being petit broadcasters - complete with a nasty dose of TV envy.
And I've bemoaned the fact that there is nothing available in video so far which replicates the ease of ability for all to contribute, with the low technical barriers that blog or forum-style postings allow.
I'm coming to the conclusion that the most helpful definition of your digital trickery is not how 'rich' it is but how conversation enabling.
Twitter seems the most conversation-enabling network we're currently witnessing.
No coincidence that it's heavily and robustly text based (though you can point to video, images, sound and all that 'rich' goodness of course).
Seesmic (which I have only just signed up for) appears to be the best stab yet at the video equivalent. That was my initial thought - and one which Ivan Pope - a longer time user - confirms. "It is like Twitter with video, has its own community feel, very addictive generally. See you there!"
What I like about this is that it enables real-time conversation, through video. It has its issues, not least of which is the fact that no-one dare leave it on for long for fear of burning out their harddrives - which means an inevitable lean towards asynchronous communication (ie not real-time and same-time). Early days.

Anyway. Just to crystalise this easy (technical low barriers) -hard (technically high barriers), broadcast-conversation landscape, here's a very simple (and terribly drawn) graph (see above).

I reckon the closer to the top right corner, the better the fit with the networked world.

A traditional TV channels would sit in the bottom left corner. Twitter is quite close to the top right - as are all the best social networks.

Where would you place your favourites or what you are working on?

Bonus: Ivan Pope on how 'everything is falling apart' and coming together again. Apologies for the out-of-synch sound. Think it's part of the joy of mp4 on my N73!

Video is poor media - until it loses TV envy

Jeff Jarvis shares his thoughts on extreme story-telling and well worth a read they are, too. But the part of his post that made me pause for thought was this:

"So far, video is being used online mostly to tell a complete story: here’s the story in text, there’s the story in video (or there’s a slideshow or a podcast or a Flash thingie). The video is almost always a packaged piece, self-standing. It wants to be television."

And that is a problem - and a waste - in a networked world. Video in this TV-envy form is for passive consumption. But the networked world is about participation and the co-creation of value.

Jeff points us to prezvid for an example of a more mashed-up approach.

The video efforts of so many default centre-out sites cling to the mantra of video as 'rich media' while missing out on the value-creating truth of the networked world - where media really gets 'rich'.

In order to make the most of the networked value of video we really need a new set of tools, tools which lower the technical barriers so everyone on the network can participate with the same ease with which they can post text or a link.

On a blog or a forum, pretty much anyone who can read the content can engage with it. Don't like what I've written - you can post a comment. Think there's another angle to explore? You can post a link etc etc. There is little in the way of technical barrier preventing you from joining in the conversation.

But if I post a video... well you can respond with a comment, or a link (at least, you can on a blog). So I offer rich media, you get to respond with text. Many sites don't even offer that, not even an opportunity to rate what you've just watched, either.

Wouldn't it be better if you could:

1. At least rate and comment on any video content (an absolutely minimum requirement).
2. Insert your comments as text overlaying the video at the point they were relevant (subtitles if you like).
3. Add your comments as video at any point you choose (upload a quick clip from your phone or webcam)
4. Insert other peoples videos to make their or your point
5. Add an image, or draw a picture, if that's the way you prefer to 'talk'.
6. Change the soundtrack to one of your own devising.
7. Connect to discuss in real time with other (like-minded) people watching it right now (youtube offers this without the brackets...)
8. Some other cool stuff you've just thought of (post as a comment!)
9. Save it all as your own version to post or share as and where you wish.

All this requires is the lowering of technical barriers. Some new tools. And if you know where they are already available or coming soon, please share.