Adam Kontras.com - Vloggin' ain't easy...





al 11:08 AM, Sunday, July 10th 2005: Alright, so I'm slighty embarrassed by the last entry now... ...naaaaaah - it was honest and funny. Let's just say I understand a bit more after this Vloggercue. So what the vloggercue was, was simply a barbeCUE for people who vlog. (sigh). I soooooooooo didn't catch that. I literally thought it was a new high tech term and felt somewhat goofy when I made the connection. There was also this worldwide net meeting that took place with people discussing the blog/vlog community and what can be done to make it more accessible and so forth. That's where it all started to make sense to me: What I truly figured out was that the reason they do it and follow others who do it is simply for the community/technology side of it all. Vloggers make videos for other vloggers to appreciate...who are in that community. The people within are happy for a newcomer who wants to do this as a hobby and they help him out and follow his progress. These are the pioneers of this techno-revolution and that is the passion. There are also say...knitting blogs/vlogs and of course those people all update about their hobby for each other as well. So really, it's not about content. For a vlogger, to see someone else get their vlog up and running, join their group, and make it their hobby means the technology is spreading. So it doesn't matter that the video is of a cat sleeping, or a guy talking to the camera for 5 minutes about RSS 2.0 feeds. To other vloggers - that's good shit. To me however, that probably means I'm not a vlogger. I don't really care about helping make software more easy for anyone to use to broadcast their own videos on websites. I care about the truly talented getting a worldwide showcase. I like the fact that it takes a little work. It takes a little work to get your own show on HBO, but that assures at least a certain level of quality. Making the process easier only waters down the content to such a level that it literally RUINS the whole movement. The effort to allow everyone to do it is isolating at best, and at worst will make video blogs about as mainstream as CB Radio groups in the 70s. But the majority don't mind - they're just happy they can make friends worldwide and keep in touch with family across the country. And for that, I understand. That's very cool, but that's not entertaining to strangers...which is my goal. I work my ASS off on this site so that just about anyone can get something out of it. You can know absolutely nothing about me click a few entries...and get it. You can also easily skim (with pictures and titles) 6 years of content. Hell, just by reading the titles in every month you could probably figure out the whole story. My goal is to make it entertaining for everyone, and that just really isn't what vlogs are about. Most people are not entertainers in the least. It's not their life. And the only way I see videoblogs to make it to any real levels is to entertain those viewing it. That's what makes them come back. That's what makes them want to see what happens next. Anyone who's followed this journal has an inherent curiosity to simply see what happens next. Even if they like watching me fall! They want to see it...because they know I'll SHOW IT. That's the entertainment. I simply don't see other people doing this. That being said, the people I met were awesome. The guy's house had beautiful japanese design everywhere and he and his wife couldn't have been more gracious hosts. I completely understand why the group means what it does to him and why he enjoys helping others be able to create in a way they were never able to before. That's inspiring and again, I understand. I'm just not of the opinion that everyone deserves their own television or radio show. Well let me rephrase that, not everyone deserves to have their own television or radio show watched. That probably has something to do with me being a professional broadcaster back in the day... So I'll stay involved with the group and if they see any of my stuff and think it might help the movement as a whole get better, I'm happy to help. Otherwise it's onto the next LA story which is actually quite a doozy folks. As with all LA stories - this could be the break, or another footnote. All I know is that it deserves its own entry, so until next time... Adam

11:08 AM, Sunday, July 10th 2005: Alright, so I'm slighty embarrassed by the last entry now... ...naaaaaah - it was honest and funny. Let's just say I understand a bit more after this Vloggercue. So what the vloggercue was, was simply a barbeCUE for people who vlog. (sigh). I soooooooooo didn't catch that. I literally thought it was a new high tech term and felt somewhat goofy when I made the connection. There was also this worldwide net meeting that took place with people discussing the blog/vlog community and what can be done to make it more accessible and so forth. That's where it all started to make sense to me: What I truly figured out was that the reason they do it and follow others who do it is simply for the community/technology side of it all. Vloggers make videos for other vloggers to appreciate...who are in that community. The people within are happy for a newcomer who wants to do this as a hobby and they help him out and follow his progress. These are the pioneers of this techno-revolution and that is the passion. There are also say...knitting blogs/vlogs and of course those people all update about their hobby for each other as well. So really, it's not about content. For a vlogger, to see someone else get their vlog up and running, join their group, and make it their hobby means the technology is spreading. So it doesn't matter that the video is of a cat sleeping, or a guy talking to the camera for 5 minutes about RSS 2.0 feeds. To other vloggers - that's good shit. To me however, that probably means I'm not a vlogger. I don't really care about helping make software more easy for anyone to use to broadcast their own videos on websites. I care about the truly talented getting a worldwide showcase. I like the fact that it takes a little work. It takes a little work to get your own show on HBO, but that assures at least a certain level of quality. Making the process easier only waters down the content to such a level that it literally RUINS the whole movement. The effort to allow everyone to do it is isolating at best, and at worst will make video blogs about as mainstream as CB Radio groups in the 70s. But the majority don't mind - they're just happy they can make friends worldwide and keep in touch with family across the country. And for that, I understand. That's very cool, but that's not entertaining to strangers...which is my goal. I work my ASS off on this site so that just about anyone can get something out of it. You can know absolutely nothing about me click a few entries...and get it. You can also easily skim (with pictures and titles) 6 years of content. Hell, just by reading the titles in every month you could probably figure out the whole story. My goal is to make it entertaining for everyone, and that just really isn't what vlogs are about. Most people are not entertainers in the least. It's not their life. And the only way I see videoblogs to make it to any real levels is to entertain those viewing it. That's what makes them come back. That's what makes them want to see what happens next. Anyone who's followed this journal has an inherent curiosity to simply see what happens next. Even if they like watching me fall! They want to see it...because they know I'll SHOW IT. That's the entertainment. I simply don't see other people doing this. That being said, the people I met were awesome. The guy's house had beautiful japanese design everywhere and he and his wife couldn't have been more gracious hosts. I completely understand why the group means what it does to him and why he enjoys helping others be able to create in a way they were never able to before. That's inspiring and again, I understand. I'm just not of the opinion that everyone deserves their own television or radio show. Well let me rephrase that, not everyone deserves to have their own television or radio show watched. That probably has something to do with me being a professional broadcaster back in the day... So I'll stay involved with the group and if they see any of my stuff and think it might help the movement as a whole get better, I'm happy to help. Otherwise it's onto the next LA story which is actually quite a doozy folks. As with all LA stories - this could be the break, or another footnote. All I know is that it deserves its own entry, so until next time... Adam