Video Voyeurism

L.A. Times.com just announced that MySpace.com will be expanded to those who don’t register on the original MySpace site. As a spin-off of the main site, this site will have videos made by professionals and amateurs, grouped by categories of subject or interest.

In the article, Jeff Berman, MySpace general manager for video, said users can establish their own channels to show off their own videos or those they have found elsewhere, saying, “It's just going to get easier and easier for everyone from the soccer mom to the garage band to create video."

And, guess what! Those channels will be sponsored by advertisers or developed jointly with mainstream producers. Why? “Video is increasingly important at the top social-networking site because users want it and because it keeps them around to watch more ads.”

So, just some random thoughts here:

Per our discussion in class tonight, would any (or all?) of these video-streamers be considered journalists? They are certainly practising mass communications.

Are there citations rules for these videos? If I use a video I found somewhere else, do I have to mention that fact?

Is everything and anything put out on these sites "fair game"? We know employers have begun to check such sites - what if some psychopathic stalker zones in on you? Does any of it become a source for professional journalists, looking for those sensational stories? Couldn't something out there be used against someone by perhaps becoming part of the evidence in a court case? What would you do if you saw something about illegal activity - would you bring it to the attention of the proper authorities? Could a "vlogger" (how do I copyright that term?) claim First Amendment rights, not just for freedom of speech but for freedom of the press?

As we learned from the text, newspapers are usually produced at a loss – the real income comes from the advertisers. Smart marketing move by the advertisers to take advantage of this new venue.

Who are all of these people who put stuff out on MySpace and YouTube? Berman stated in the article that 50 million viewers watch streaming video on MySpace each month – but that number puts them in second place behind YouTube. Is this contributing to the “information” overload of today's world? Please tell me people aren't watching this instead of any real news!

How do 50 million video voyeurs find the time to watch these videos, much less have time to produce and/or post them? They must not be working full-time and attending college!

I’m probably “old-fashioned”, but is nothing private anymore? Why do people have this need or desire to put themselves and their lives on display? Why do other people have the need or desire to watch? Maybe it's the new equivalent of people-watching, without going to the mall or the State Fair.

I guess with no classes next week, I’ll have some time to go check it out!

(PS: sorry I was wrong about having 10 blogs done, Brian – the total of 10 I saw included the little one I did the first night when we set up our blog spots. Hope to talk with you and Craig next week. Thanks for a really good class!)