--- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, "bestdamntechshow" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > how do all of you feel about the user feedback that you get? is it > enough (like there is such thing as enough), or are you concerned that > people are just watching and not getting involved. > > how do we turn that trend around? what type of tools do we need to > really break the wall down and gain one on one relationships with the > people who watch our videos? > > _drew > www.pluggd.com >
That's an interesting question. I think we have to start out with the understanding that anywhere you go on the net, there are WAY more lurkers than posters. I think I read somewhere that the circulation for this list is something like 2500, and there aren't even 30 people that post on a regular basis. Even if you try to make a claim that there are 100 people that post, it's still a horrible ratio. I would suspect that the relationship between hits on a site and comments won't be changing any time soon without some sort of restructuring of the blogs themselves. On top of that, I think a lot of blogs are closed-ended, by which I mean there really isn't anything in them that calls for discussion or debate. It just IS what it IS. I'll watch Scriggity to see Shauna's antics, and I'll watch it to see your editing. By the end of the show, I feel a statement was made, and I watched the expression of that statement, and I don't have anything to say about it. There are other shows, like this one about a chick that lies to every guy she ever meets and then wonders why she can't get a decent guy, where I don't have anything POSITIVE to say, so I just skip it. :D Increasing viewer feedback is a tall order for both of those reasons. The video itself would have to prompt discussion, and then the viewers would have to actually participate... most of whom are lurkers, who don't participate practically by decree. This is why our friends inside YouTube have so many hits. The culture over there is to watch something and then comment on it and then tell your friends or your groups about it and have them comment on it as well. Now, they have video comments, so by commenting, you're creating another branch that's going to spawn the same type of responses. Also, the whole "I'm sitting in my room in front of my webcam with nothing better to do than make videos for YouTube" mentality is a sort of "cry for help". It begs for someone to respond to it, and other people sitting in their rooms in Arkansas with a webcam can empathize with them and feel the desire to respond. That won't happen outside of social sites, because there's no community like that. It's like David said, it's random viewers pressing random buttons and very seldom latching on to anything. I think Zadi & Steve have some good ideas @ JetSetShow, like having their viewers send in items that they actually use on the web site. I'm sure it makes the viewers feel like they can be a part of the show instead of just watching it. Actually, the whole format of their show invites teens to get involved and make media, either for their own purposes or to submit to JetSetShow for possible 'airing'. -- Bill C. http://ReelSolid.TV
