Rise of the Mobile Video Blog

According to Funnell (2009), the average mobile phone has evolved from the humble voice-box to the total media centre. As a result, the mobile video blog (vlog) has become popular almost overnight. Vlogs are beginning to infiltrate the mainstream media, part of the increasingly seismic shift in the way we get our news and entertainment.

These statements are suppored by Harnick (2009) who quoted that

“According to Nielsen’s Three Screen Report, the number of people watching mobile video increased 70 percent, from more than 9 million to more than 15 million in the last year. Findings also include children 12-17 years old spend the most watching video on their mobile devices at 6 hours and 30 seconds. Young adults ages 18-24 spend 3 hours and 15 minutes while ages 25-34, 45-54 and 55-64 spend 2 hours and 10 seconds.”

Click on the image to enlarge.
Source: http://www.thirdpresence.com/blog/mobile-broadband


Mobile vlogs already helped to create the first internet celebrities (Simmons, 2008). So if your video blog is good, you might be the next internet celebrity. Also, mobile vlogs helps delivering news to your hands faster than ever.

So what are the factors which made mobile vlog a massive trend?
According to Simmons (2008), faster mobile connections, all-inclusive data packages, and better mobile phones (Nokia N95, iPhone 3GS, HTC HD2) are the factors.

There are two new video sharing services – Qik and Seesmic. Qik is all about streaming live video from your mobile phone in real time, whereas Seesmic is all about recording video on the seesmic website via a webcam on your computer. [Hobson, 2008]

A screenshot of Qik.
Source: http://www.crunchbase.com/assets/images/original/0000/6289/6289v1.png

A screenshot of Seesmic.
Source: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2051/2189814384_4eb0761be8.jpg

The services were referred to as "a vision of the future of online video” (Waters, 2008).
In my opinion, these two video sharing services will be popular in Asia soon. People love new trends and with the presence of better mobile phones, users will enjoy recording videos then share it with their peers. Moreover, pictures are only able to capture one moment but videos can explain the whole experience.

So, keep an eye on mobile vlogs!


References

Funnell, J 2009, LTE - The Rise of the Mobile Prosumer, iTVcon.com, viewed on 18 November 2009, <http://www.itvcon.com/node/1171759>.

Harnick, C 2009, Mobile video consumption on the rise: Nielsen, Mobilness.wordpress.com, viewed on 18 November 2009, <http://mobileness.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/mobile-video-consumption-on-the-rise-nielsen/>.

Hobson, N 2008, The rise of instant movile video, NevilleHobson.com, viewed on 18 November 2009, <http://www.nevillehobson.com/2008/01/21/the-rise-of-instant-mobile-video/>.

Simmons, D 2008, Rise of the mobile video blog, BBC News, viewed on 18 November 2009, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/7392594.stm>.

Waters, D 2008, Seesmic killed the Youtube star?, BBC News, viewed on 18 November 2009, <http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/01/seesmic.html>.

New Forms of Media Publishing

In this new era, the presence of new media is expanding. With the new media, trends have changed. Naughton (2006) agrees that he newest trend in blogosphere is the combination of digital convergence, personal computing and global networking seems to have ratcheted up the pace of development and is giving rise to radical shifts in the environment. The issue might be best described as one of ‘informed bewilderment’.

Questions were always asked: "Will the new media trends replace conventional journalism?"
With the emergence of websites such as Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and Tumblr, it seems like they will make conventional journalism extinct. However, it is possible that the existing media accommodate themselves in the new media ecosystem (Naughton, 2006). Naughton (2006) also added that the traditional media are considered to be the push media, whereas the web is the pull media - this proves the supremacy of the new media.

According to Silkstone (2007), blogging might not be dying, but it is always morphing into new forms. This is true because Twitter and Tumblr are actually new forms of blogging.

Twitter enables 140 characters to be posted on the author's profile page with just a simple click.
Source: http://twitter.com/joleneees

Tumblr allows users to post text, images, video, links, quotes, and audio to their page. It is different from conventional blogging because it is a short-form blog.
Source: http://superkennylim.tumblr.com/

These interactions can be very complex and take many forms. Yet the reality is that while new communications technologies may not wipe out earlier ones, they certainly change the ecosystem.



References

Naughton, J 2006, Blogging and the emerging media ecosystem, Reuters Institute, viewed on 18 November 2009, http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/discussion/blogging.pdf.


Silkstone, D 2007, The blogs that ate cyberspace, The Age, viewed on 18 November 2009, http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/here-to-stay/2007/04/06/1175366469530.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap6.

The Blogging Community

A blogging community consists of people who have similar area of interest and discuss in a blog (Anthony, 2009). A blogging community is essential to being a successful blogger. Through a blogging community, you are also creating a name and reputation for who you are and what you have to say. Community is alive and well in the blogosphere. It is emerging in a variety of patterns and manifesting in all sizes and types of communities (White, 2006).

A blogging community can be created by:

• Take the lead and be the community that you want your readers to be – readers follow the lead of bloggers in how they’ll interact with each other
• Ask Questions – the key to more comments and interaction on a blog
• Link to reader’s blogs
• Answer reader’s questions
• Invite Readers to Take the lead with guest posts, giving advice to each other etc
• Mention readers in your blog
• Allow comments for everyone

(Rowse, 2008)

Blog researcher Efimova (2006) suggests the communities formed around an author-centred blog are likely to depend more on the connections of blog-readers with the blogger personality than the topics she covers.

References

Anthony 2009, What is a Blogging Community?, The Travel Tart, viewed on 17 November 2009, http://www.thetraveltart.com/what-is-a-blogging-community/.

Efimova, L 2006, Author-centred vs. topic-centred blogging, Mathemagenic, viewed on 17 November 2009, http://blog.mathemagenic.com/2006/08/14.html.

Rowse, D 2008, How to Build Community on Your Blog, ProBlogger, viewed on 17 November 2009, http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/04/26/how-to-build-community-on-your-blog/.

White, N 2006, Blogs and Community – launching a new paradigm for online community?, Australian Flexible Learning Network, viewed on 17 November 2009, http://kt.flexiblelearning.net.au/tkt2006/edition-11-editorial/blogs-and-community-%E2%80%93-launching-a-new-paradigm-for-online-community.

Classification of Blogs

There are many classification of blogs. The subject matters are such as personal, business, schools, non-profits, politics, military, private, sports, how-to, tips, and reviews (Wordpress, n.d.). Then, the media types are also different. There are:

• Vlogs – blogs which consist of videos (Youtube)
• Linklogs – blogs which consist of links
• Sketchblogs
• Photoblogs
• Tumblelogs – short posts and mixed media types (Tumblr)
• Moblog – Sending pictures from a cameraphone or mobile device (Flickr)
• Microblog – a short text message which may or may not contain a shortened URL. (Twitter)

[MakeYouGoHmm.com, 2008]

Although there are blog categories, many blogs have combination of styles, which make identifying unique types difficult. For example, kennysia.com is a personal blog, but sometimes the blogger writes about traveling, reviews and even does videos. Simons (2008) also classified blogs in a different manner, where there are pamphleteering, digest, advocacy, popular mechanics, exhibition, gatewatcher, diary, advertisement and news blogs.

In my opinion, each individual chooses what to read and have different interests. As technology advances, bloggers get to include many new things such as videos and whatnot. Also, blogging has become absolutely simple, so many people are blogging. According to Tokheim (2009), blogging and social networking are moving toward each other, so blogs do not belong to only one category nowadays.


References

Simons, M 2008, A taxonomy of blogs, The Media Report, viewed on 17 November 2009, http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2008/2372882.htm#transcript.

Tokheim, D 2009, New Trends in Blogs, eMarketer, viewed on 17 November 2009, http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007085.

The 8 different types of blogging in 2008, MakeYouGoHmm.com, viewed on 17 November 2009, http://www.makeyougohmm.com/20080124/5040/.

Types of Blogs n.d., WordPress, viewed on 17 November 2009, http://en.wordpress.com/types-of-blogs/.

The Current Blogosphere & Benefits to the Society

According to Technorati (2009), there are four types of bloggers currently. A survey was conducted for Technorati and they found that 72% of bloggers are hobbyists, 15% are part-timers, 9% are self-employed and only 4% are pros. TechCrunch (2009) added that professional bloggers are more prolific in 2009 because of the interactivity they get with audience and other bloggers.

Currently, the most popular blogs in America are TMZ, Gizmodo and Perez Hilton (eBizMBA, 2009). TMZ and Perez Hilton are celebrity gossip blogs and Gizmodo writes about gadgets and technology.

A screenshot of TMZ.com
Source: http://blog.vh1.com/files/2008/04/tmz-nice-stories-oprah.jpg

A screenshot of Gizmodo.com
Source: http://ryanspoon.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/powermat-retracted.png

A screenshot of PerezHilton.com
Source: http://z.about.com/d/websearch/1/0/k/L/perez_hilton.png

In Malaysia, the most influential blogs of 2007 are Kenny Sia, Sapiens Bryan and Hemmy.net (Sabahan.com, 2007). Kenny Sia is a personal blog but his posts are entertaining, whereas Sapiens Bryan blogs about technology. On the other hand, Hemmy.net is about humour.

A screeshot of KennySia.com
Source: http://julianhopkins.net/uploads/jh_pic_090409_KennySiaScreenShot_1.jpg

The statistics above already proved that readers like to read entertainment on blogs and also to discover the latest gadgets. In Malaysia, benefits of blogs to the community are such as obtaining latest information without much hassle, generating more interactivity and advertising revenues which will eventually benefit businesses, organizations and the economy. Most importantly, readers get to obtain information about what is happening with the opposition parties because mainstream media do not publish about them. For example, Lim Kit Siang's blog.



References

2009 State of the Blogosphere: The Full BlogWorld Presentation 2009, TechCrunch, viewed on 8 November 2009, http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/16/2009-state-of-the-blogosphere-the-full-blogworld-presentation/.

50 Most Influential Blogs in Malaysia 2007, Sabahan.com, viewed on 16 November 2009, http://www.sabahan.com/2007/02/06/50-most-influential-blogs-in-malaysia/.

State of the Blogosphere 2009 Introduction 2009, Technorati, viewed on 8 November 2009, http://technorati.com/blogging/article/state-of-the-blogosphere-2009-introduction.

Top 25 Most Popular Blogs 2009, eBizMBA, viewed on 16 November 2009, http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/blogs.