Trends Forecast №5: Innovative Web Video Strategies & Live Video
Youtube has been around for over a decade. Vine, the micro-video sharing platform has come and gone. When it comes to web video, we’re no longer just throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. There are enough examples of viral sensations and bonafide stars to track data on best practices of web content, what works, and how it is different from video media that has come before it.
New opportunities exist for creators who see web series’ as more than just another distribution platform for video, but rather, a new medium in its own rite. The dominant aesthetics of this form are authenticity, transparency and relatability, building off of a key affordance of the format, which is the two way nature of the medium. This interactive nature rewards creators who are able to establish a sense of community with their viewers, as well as camaraderie amongst creators. Where the traditional television ecosystem encourages a sense of cut throat competitiveness — after all, there is a limited number of programming slots in primetime, creating a sense of scarcity — the vast openness of Youtube promotes collaboration. In the truest sense of “the more, the more,” online, where suggestion algorithms push viewers to similar content, your competitor’s success can mean more views for you, too.
The world of web series’ is also an opportunity to consider innovation as more than just technological feats, as brave creators tell new kinds of stories with diverse points of view.
The breakout medium of the last year, live video presents untapped opportunities to creators as well as new challenges. Users were at first unsure of what to do with apps like Meerkat and Periscope. As people began testing the apps, they live streamed whatever was in front of them, and quickly created the new medium’s first viral hashtag, #ShowUsYourFridge, with which users who stream and share the contents of their refrigerators to whoever might be watching, in real time.
But then the tools started being used at protests, giving unprecedented access to remote audiences. When Facebook launched their own live video offering, the potential for people to share their own stories, in real time, with potentially massive audiences, became even greater. We’ve seen live video used to powerful effect in journalistic broadcasts and in social justice issues, but the medium is still young and there are tons of opportunities for creative storytellers and journalists who want to design new systems and experiences with the tool.
