Moving at the Speed of Creativity by Wesley Fryer

IPTV, Less advertising, and new media

The latest (December 2006) issue of Wired magazine has several excellent articles that relate to YouTube, IPTV, the rapidly changing landscape of paid advertising, and new media technology use in general– but especially by younger demographic folks. The three articles are part of a series titled “Web Video Grows Up,” and includes “The YouTube Effect,” “Commercial Break,” and “The Secret World of Lonelygirl15.”

The Secret World of Lonelygirl15 describes how YouTube has become an entirely new medium for filmmaking and digital storytelling. I had not previously heard of “Lonelygirl15” and the controversy surrounding this fictious YouTube video series, which perhaps shows how out of touch I have been with developments related to YouTube until relatively recently. (As an aside, isn’t it amazing how fast things change… If you tune out of conversations or for some reason just don’t “hear about” something like this, you sort of feel like Rip Van Winkle…..)

A small team (like 3 people) got together with the idea of creating an Internet video series that would take advantage of the power of viral video. After posting the scripted segment of the fictious Lonelygirl15 video series on YouTube titled “My Parents Suck…” the video was seen over half a million times in less than 48 hours. According to the Wired article:

In response to the feedback, Beckett and Flinders [the producers and filmakers of the series] decided to focus on the tension between Bree and Daniel. When viewers suggested that he had a crush on Bree, they changed the story line to include a romance. That couldn’t have happened on television. A conventional TV episode airs once at a certain time; even if it’s great, it can only serve to attract viewers to future episodes. On YouTube, a video can be streamed at any time. The good ones are watched again and again, sending a clear message about what works and what doesn’t. When “My Parents Suck …” broke 500,000 views, Beckett and Flinders realized this wasn’t just an experiment or a setup for a film. It was a medium in its own right. The team decided that Lonelygirl15 shouldn’t leave the Internet. She had been born there, and she would stay there.

So, if you have not heard of the Lonelygirl15 series, go read the Wired article about it. It also includes direct embedded links to many of the series’ episodes. To learn more, a simple Google keyword search for “lonelygirl15” turns up 1.8 million hits including the www.lonelygirl15.com “tribute site,” the lonelygir15 YouTube site, the WikiPedia entry for Lonelygirl15, and the lonelygirl15 myspace page.

Note that I am NOT endorsing the content of these sites. I think the story of what has happened in terms of digital storytelling and media publication because of sites like YouTube and increasing residential broadband Internet access is significant, however, and worth studying to understand these trends as well as the challenges and opportunities they present for educators, parents, and others.

I’ve also read The YouTube Effect article, but I’ll save my comments on that for a later post.

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