Capturing User Generated Content

Here are two interesting pieces of news, the first is from Business Week Online, it speculates how the business model of You Tuibe may develop. At the moment You Tube has millions of views, millions of dollars in costs, no income and the threat of huge legal bills due to copyright protected material being uploaded. It may have a way of making lots of money though now it has a very established audience - advertising that is short and fast and targeted might be the future for YouTube. The big problem with user generated content is the seperation of the 'Wheat from the Chaff', for the majority of people we don't want to search for hours through YouTube to find something cool, if we wait long enough - cool things will come to us anyway. Here's an example - a few weeks ago I saw a cutting edge new clip on YouTube from Californian rock band 'Ok Go'. The clip is simply the four members doing a choregraphed dance routine on treadmills. A few days later I heard the song playing in an office above me, I asked my colleague if he was watching YouTube? No, somebody sent it to him via email, - the power of the viral. Two weeks ago the clip was on J-TV and the song was added to JJJ's playlist. This morning it was on commercial television, Video Hits on Channel 10. See if I'd just waited it would have found me anyway. Broadcasters are worried that we will all spend to much time watching video blogs and silly clips on YouTube and stop turning the television on. Maybe there is a big way forward for boradcaster in becoming the mechanism that sorts the wheat and the chaff. Maybe we would tune in to shows like 'Inside My Life - this weeks 10 Best Video Blogs' or 'Best Miming Chinese Dorm Boys' or '10 to 1 - Best Stupid Party Tricks'. A new show has just launched in the US hosted by MTV's Carson Daly 'It's Your Show' gives content creators the chance to win $100,000. Sadly here in Australia $100,000 would allow us to actually make a show.