|
by Angela Pacienza
The Ottawa Sun
Jan 28, 2006
|
|
Like many of his peers, university student
Ian MacDonald is hooked on online videos.
But MacDonald, 22, isn't watching the much-discussed on-demand TV shows
that have recently popped on the e-market.
He's more interested in the homemade, goofy clips created by ordinary
people using low-cost digital cameras and cellphones.
MacDonald, who's studying at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont.,
admits to spending hours visiting humour sites like www.ebaumsworld.com
and www.bored.com forwarding funny videos to friends.
"I look at them quite a bit, especially during exam period when
you're supposed to be doing other work," he admits sheepishly.
"There's a huge voyeur aspect to it . . . (to) see how the other
half is living, especially when you're in university-land writing papers.
It breaks up the seriousness."
Trendwatchers call the videos the new "social currency" among
young people and expect it to grow significantly in the next few years.
"In the 15-24 age group especially, it's all about making connections,
and self-produced content becomes social currency," says Kaan Yigit,
president of Toronto's Solutions Research Group, which tracks technology
and entertainment trends.
"It's the 'Hey! Check it out' factor. If five people look at your
video and like it, you have five new friends - that's the motivation.
It's like sharing a joke - if people laugh, that's the reward."
Finding places to view clips is easy thanks to a slew of websites that
post user-submitted content. Videos range from practical jokes played
on friends to stupid pet tricks and comedy skits.
There are also self-taught editors who refashion Hollywood films into
all sorts of fun stuff. One such creation turns Jim Carrey's Dumb and
Dumber into a murder plot by reordering scenes.
Wannabe actors, screenwriters and comics are also posting their homemade
movies to the web, bypassing more traditional routes to stardom.
A group of writer, director and actor friends called the Lonely Island
has been posting homemade videos to the web since 2001 via the TV site
Channel101.com. The group now works for Saturday Night Live.
Since these quirky videos have a potential audience of millions of web
surfers, marketers and advertisers are eager to tap into the "viral
video" trend, named for the speed and extent at which they get
passed around.
"If you're a broadcaster you're scratching your head trying to
figure out how to become a part of this trend . . . Their target audience
is communicating and having fun without them, which was exclusively
their domain 10 years ago," said Yigit.
"We are at the beginning of this trend. Expect accelerated growth
in the next two years as it gets even easier to produce and share content."
Other places to view daffy videos include www.ifilm.com and www.metacafe.com.
|
|
