Meet the Vlogers
Vlogers?
Yes, vlogers.
First, there was the blog. Blog = web log.
Then came the podcast. A podcast is audio or video content you can download from the Internet and play on your PC or a personal media device like, but not limited to, an iPod.
Now, the strangest word yet: vlog. Vlog = Video blog. Vlogs are blogs that feature video posts. Sometimes daily video posts.
And a vloger is one who produces vlogs.
Everyday media life is starting to sound like a Star Trek episode, isn’t it?
So what about these vlogers?
Their most important feature right now is that they’re multiplying like jack rabbits.
A year or so ago, there were just a few dozen vlogs. As of this writing, a web site called mefeedia.com has a database of 4,720. I’m sure the worldwide number has blown past 10,000.
Just a fleck of dust on the knee of a gnat in the grand scheme of things – except for the growth curve.
Content?
From the truly bad to the genuinely compelling.
I’m hooked on one particular vlog right now along with 100,000+ other daily viewers.
It’s called RocketBoom and it’s shot in the living room of an apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for daily out-of-pocket cost of $25 (not including upaid salaries.) Andrew Baron, 35, is behind the camera. Amanda Congdon, 24, is in front.
The subject of the three minute show is new media and technology with liberal doses of comedy and political commentary thrown in for good measure.
Speaking of politics, if you’re a fan of George Bush & Co, you might find the program occasionally disquieting. If you’re not, you’re going to be delighted.
By the way, there are many ‘famous’ cable programs that are happy to get 100,000 viewers. None of them are staffed by two people with daily expenses of $25.
The opportunity is obvious.
10,000 vlogs (mostly dreck) and a few hundred million Internet users with broadband.
Do the math.
There’s going to be a wondrous sweet spot in time when the hundreds of millions discover the vlogers and the folks with half-way decent vlogs will become ‘overnight’ stars.
You could be there.
Prediction: Amanda Congdon will be on Saturday Night Live by 2008, if not a whole lot sooner.
http://www.RocketBoom.com
UPDATE: It appears Andrew Baron gave partner and co-founder Amanda
Congdon the boot. I’m still rooting for Amanda. The new host is
fine, but my interest in watching the show has declined precipitously
given the circumstances of Amanda’s leaving.
Enjoy!
Ken
P.S. Next issue: Why there will be (at least) one hundred thousand vlogs by this time next year.
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Update
A few days after I posted this Rocket Boom auctioned off a week’s worth of advertising on eBay. It was their first attempt to get a paid sponsor.
The winning big was $40,000 and right behind it Earthlink apparently bought the next week.
So far, so good 🙂
There was a reason rocketboom took off: Amanda Congdon was HOT! Joanne Colan is nice, but is missing Amanda’s certain something. Think Meredith replacing Katie. There will be some drop off in viewership, but just like the OLD MEDIA Joanne Colan will need to build her own audience.