I made a quick visit to the Yahoo Live site, which has been overshadowed in recent news by the Yahoo acquisition attempt by Microsoft. Its cute, I suppose, certainly with plenty of moneymaking opportunities. Some key issues do need to be addressed:
The site experience is lousy. Similar to Ustream, Stickam, etc. Video streams take a while to load, they are choppy and constantly crashing. Yes, this is all to improve as internet bandwidth and streaming technologies advance, but its still irritating.
The camera angles are almost ALL the same. You are looking at "heads". Granted, these amazing heads talk, dance, sing, even strip (though the sites have a genuine PG rating), but viewers are still basically watching, experiencing and interacting with some persons floating mug! This promptly led me to click on users based on their appearance... (hey, at least I don't lie about it!)
This, in my opinion, will be the key to all of this-- are people really interested in the inner lives of other people? Social Networking have shown that we do have an inner desire to interact and "network" with each other, but these sites still filter a lot of what we see and read. Streaming video takes all of the illusions we may have about the person, you see, hear and experience the individual for who he/she is. Interesting.
As the technology improves, there is no doubt that we will start seeing live streaming as a complimentary addition to websites, social networking sites, etc. Applying this technology to a more useful purpose: Imagine college interviews being done online, or sending in your video resume to a business position you look to fill. The opportunities are quite limitless as the people in our world becoming increasingly more connected.
There will always be those people that enjoy sharing themselves with others. For The Jolly Jetsetter, he will remain behind his Facebook and Second Life walls- at least for the time being.
Sites to visit
http://live.yahoo.com
www.justin.tv
www.stickam.com
www.ustream.tv
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2 comments:
JJS - forgive my daftness and my refusal to explore more the sites you suggested.. but am i getting this right? Live video streaming is an interactive chat room where instead of typing you're actually in face to face conversations with the people you choose? Or is it like another youtube where it is a huge collection of uploaded videos that can be watched by the public? If you would be so kind to expound for me.. i'd appreciate it. Thanks :)
Its more like an interactive reality TV show. Most of the time, you will be watching some individual go about his or her day. If you would like to make it more interactive you can send emails, messages, etc.
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