by Dave Zornow and Fran Feldman
Published in Cynopsis:Weekender newsletter, 5/17/2007
Among web 2.0’s innovations is a site combining elements of Reality TV, C-Span and good old-fashioned Mrs. Kravitz-style snooping-on-your-neighbors-voyeurism. Justin Kan, a 23 year old Yale graduate and the subject of the Justin.tv web site, wears a baseball cap with a webcam to broadcast his internet-entrepreneur life 24/7 with hopes that his “Lifecasting” startup will be the next big thing. Justin.tv a real-life version of the Ron Howard movie, EdTV. It’s only occasionally interesting, but apparently interesting enough to merit coverage on The Today Show, All Things Considered and Nightline. There’s also a reasonably significant online following--and sponsors, too. How many of us can say we have advertisers who will pay to associate their name with us for…basically…not doing anything in particular?
Much like C-Span, Justin.TV gets an A for effort but at best a C for content. Lifecasting would be considerably more interesting if the “hat cam” was placed on a few different heads. Here are a few ideas:
Want a personal tour of the Angkor Wat temple but can’t afford the airfare or the 24 hours of travel time to Cambodia? Strap a webcam to a friend vacationing in southeast asia or a local tour guide and you can be there without going there.
Need to overcome a fear (like flying) or experience a thrill (like bungee jumping)? Lifecasting can let you walk a mile in someone else’s shoes without leaving your sofa.
Would Roberto Gonzalez’s congressional testimony have included over 50 claims of poor memory if he had been wearing a webcam during the months preceding the attorneys-general firings? You can bet that a few hundred thousand online witnesses would have helped jog his memory!
Presidential candidates frequently use flashy web sites to reach out to younger voters. Lifecasting could complement a candidate's blog by showing what a Day In The Life is like on the campaign trail. For example, what exactly does a candidate have to say to donors to raise over $25 million in three months?
Now, who is going to raise their hand at the next candidate event for Rudy, Hillary, John, John, Mitt, Barack or Duncan and ask which White House WannaBe will be the first head of state with a headcam? ##
Dave Zornow is President/TNG Research, a media research consultancy and applications development company that works with media sellers and research providers. Fran Feldman is an international call center consultant and a freelance writer based in Reston, Virginia.
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