When the 2006 MTV Movie Awards aired Thursday, June 8, I was at work. The following weekend, my buddy Nelson asked me if I had seen Gnarls Barkley's performance. The answer, of course, was no. The group's latest appearance on MTV, had been a characteristically quirky performance where they dressed up in Star Wars costumes and rocked their hit single "Crazy."
So I turned to YouTube for help. Within moments of booting up my computer I was already watching the clip. And yes, the Star Wars costumes were just as amazing as my buddy had described. I wasn't alone, either. More than 100,000 other people also went to YouTube for a second chance to watch the clip. That number has since grown to more than 770,000.
Essentially, this means the timeline of television is no longer sufficient. People all over the world, like me, didn't want to wait until MTV replayed the show. People are taking video matters into their own hands. The intriguing thing about YouTube is that it's completely user-run. It's a forum for people to upload, watch, share and discuss their own homemade videos. For the first time, individual peopleâ€â€not the network execs or the collective massesâ€â€are controlling video content, in every aspectâ€â€creation, production and distribution. People can watch clips of live video they missed, find videos and share information on their favorite interests, and simply be entertained, any time of day. Add to that the technological advances in wireless Internet access, and now, along with immediacy, YouTube has portability on its side too. That spells trouble for not only TV news, but for all of television in general.
There's just something so liberating about being able to watch Chewbacca play the drums any time I want, as many times as I want. It's infinitely more satisfying than being told what to watch on TV.
I like the link to the Darth Vader and storm Troops clip! Good content.
Rick
Thanks for sharing that! Perhaps, I'm too old, but where were R2D2 and C3PO?
I think one of the things we have to remember is that (believe it or not) some people don't have Internet access. We're pretty fortunate that way. But what about those who aren't? Advertising Age had an interesting cover story recently, called "Reality Check," that had stats on technology and people's use of it. There were definitely some surprises there.