Les Blogs 2.0: blogs enter the video age

Posted on 13 Dec 2005 at 10:44

Les Blogs 2.0 is probably the most 'zeitgeisty' conference of the year, combining the Web 2.0 buzz with the blogging phenomenum sweeping all before it. In part two of our coverage of the Paris conference, our man on the ground Bernhard Warner scouts out what hot on the floor.

The blog, for some, may not be enough. Words and pictures are fine. But to attract a big audience, sound and video must be added. And, voila, the blogs of tomorrow will be an all-singing, all-dancing form of citizen-inspired entertainment, art, product demonstrations or travelogues.

'Podcasting is just the beginning of an enormous wave of self-expression, which is all about image. People, after all, are most interested in image,' says Joel de Rosnay, co-founder of AgoraVox.com, a European blog site dedicated to citizen journalism that is soon to launch in English. 'It is TV made by the people for the people, and all the worst elements and all the best elements will be included.'

Such a concept may seem difficult to fathom. We already have several hundred terrible channels to flip through on the telly. Why would thousands more amateur and low-budget digital clips be of any appeal?

One big reason is the Apple video iPod. The recent debut of the pocket-sized digital media player enables users to now download TV shows, home movies or Web shorts to watch on the train, on holiday or to show your mates at the pub. The second trigger will be a new wave of smartphones and PDAs equipped with digital camcorders, such as the Nokia N90, that threaten to turn mobile bloggers into amateur TV newsmen.

Gabe McIntyre, a founder of video blogging network Xolo.TV, says that with his Nokia N90 he can record, edit and upload onto the Web a slickly produced video package that would impress a BBC TV producer. 'With my mobile and laptop, I can run an entire broadcast network,' he says.

McIntrye says video blogging also has enormous practical applications for the likes of tourist destinations, small businesses and artists trying to reach a new audience or prospective customers.

Blogs like English Cut, written by a Saville Row tailor, have helped small- and mid-sized firms with little or no marketing budget get noticed. Adding a video link to better show off the cut and style patterns could even further enhance sales. In other words, there are no fussy cats on these blogs, just the occasional fat cat browsing for a suit.

While the video blogging revolution is in its infancy, it is beginning to pick up rapidly as broadband speeds improve and the gadgets for capturing and recording voice and moving images become more sophisticated. 'We get video feeds from all over the world now - Indonesia, Iraq, Singapore,' says McIntyre.

Just about every blog publishing tool from Blogger to Typepad allows users to add multimedia to their posts. Video blogging directory, Vlogmap.org, lists 31 video bloggers based in the United Kingdom.

One is Naturemysticfilms. Based out of Glencoe, Scotland, this blogger's speciality is producing film shorts about the Scottish countryside. Unlike most documentarians, the blogger leaves descriptions of how he shot the scenery, the type of device he used and why. Fast Moving Animals, a London-based blogger, prefers more abstract, arty film shorts. One dubbed '3576 Steps' is a Dr. Who-like video reportage of his daily commute.