Twitter Should Have VJ’s
Twitter is building out a 24/7 live video experience, meaning that something will be streaming on Twitter any time you access it. I think this makes a lot of sense in theory, as Twitter is largely differentiated by its now-ness, but I’m not convinced by the line-up so far — a rather incoherent mix of business shows, tech news, sports events and various flotsam and jetsam nobody else wanted. Luckily, I’m a random guy on the Internet with cool ideas for making live video a real asset for Twitter, and no real interest in properly editing any of the following into a well-organized argument.
OK, here goes:
First off, Twitter should construct and outright own a performance space with a stage, basically a medium-sized concert venue. Call it Blue Bird or something. Intimate, but roomy enough to be a big deal. Put the club in a major American city, and start it all off by paying influential tastemaker bands and artists a generous fee to play incredible shows live on Twitter. Don’t waste money on U2, Coldplay or Beyoncé! Do a lot more shows instead, with bands who have meaningful followings and a growing reputation, across a broad spectrum of the music world. Give viewers unprecedented access to the tricked-out backstage area before and after the show, and outfit it with a Twitter-blue couch on which a host sits with a couple of Twitter users who won passes. Have those users Periscope their experience ahead of the event, and make mini-stars out of them as they promote the upcoming show.
Curate concerts where two or more artists come together in unexpected ways for unique and memorable shows, bringing new fans to each artist. Have rappers debut their new records live. Invite comedians and world artists and dance troupes and philharmonic orchestras. Build a reputation for the physical space as a uniquely cool venue, and create an association between amazing live events and Twitter as a platform. Steal Unplugged from MTV and do it better.
And speaking of MTV — Twitter should bring back VJs we can love or love to hate. Have hosts who guide us from program to program, creating coherence between the varied video offerings, and encouraging conversation. Invite brands like HBO to host “after the show” programs for their most popular properties, as a sponsored feature people would love to watch and participate in — and have the VJ’s play a part there, too.
Before showing a documentary on Twitter, get the filmmaker to speak to the VJ on another Twitter-blue couch and introduce the movie with a serious conversation. Because, yes, Twitter VJs should not be Seacrestian tools, but really smart and interesting people who are intellectually curious and great at Twitter.
Twitter VJ’s should probably not be called VJ’s, as I think they could also serve as hosts for specific hashtags. Hashtags are essentially “channels.” In some cases, those channels of content could include a video stream and a more curated, hosted experience. Go to #WorldCup in 2018 and get a page that combines video and a Twitter feed that is part organic, part controlled by the designated host (VJ). By “controlled,” I mean that they can lead the conversation, and retweet their selections in a way that pins them atop the timeline for a limited time. Such retweets should get a lasting visual treatment — for a user it’s akin to a writer having their local story promoted to the NYT homepage.
Twitter should cultivate their own selection of hosts and make them famous, but also recruit Twitterific celebrities to host hashtags relevant to them around events — a bit like how Apple’s Beats 1 Radio lets musicians host shows. Imagine Chrissy Teigen hosting a John Legend concert on Twitter, or Chris Pratt doing a live “DVD commentary” as one of his movies airs on a sponsoring TV network, or Anna Kendrick hosting as a singing contest streams from the Twitter live space. Or how about an astronaut hosting as Twitter streams a SpaceX mission?
Beyond big mass market celebrities, a midlist author could host a small event around their book release and really connect with readers. A journalist who’s been covering a legal case for some time could host a chat around its culmination. All of this constitutes a dash of Reddit’s AMA, a pinch of the old AOL chat rooms, and a bit of heyday MTV gloss. What could possibly go wrong?
