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i don’t know shit

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An experiment…

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An experiment…

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A list of all the mistakes & problems & disadvantages TV people have when they come to make social video:

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We need to stop being stupid and afraid

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1. Burdened by old rules and ignorant of new ones

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E.g. “Sex sells”

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Forget what you’ve learnt from TV

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What’s your reason to share?

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TV distribution

Viral distribution

Channel

Channel

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What’s the reason to share?

  1. Does it make you feel something?
  2. Does it help people say something positive about themselves?
  3. (Will it make them look bad?)
  4. Will it make people feel good?
  5. Is something that people *need* to see? Under-reported story, myth bust etc
  6. Is it useful?
  7. Does it celebrate a relationship? Mother, best friend etc
  8. Does it start or join a conversation?
  9. Does it make people want to tag someone?
  10. Would you share it?
  11. Does it have a clear message?

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Clear message

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2. Obsessed with the wrong things (OWWT)

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OWWT - graphics & beautiful pictures

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OWWT - graphics & beautiful pictures

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OWWT - graphics & beautiful pictures

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More important:

  • What’s the reason to share?

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OWWT - graphics & beautiful pictures

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More important:

  • What’s the reason to share?
  • Does it have a clear message?

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OWWT - graphics & beautiful pictures

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More important:

  • What’s the reason to share?
  • Does it have a clear message?
  • Facebook - first 5 seconds

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Lots of interesting things

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OWWT - graphics & beautiful pictures

More important:

  • What’s the reason to share?
  • Does it have a clear message?
  • Facebook - first 5 seconds
  • YouTube - thumbnail & title

“Zach Wahls Speaks About Family”

“Two Lesbians Raised a Baby And This Is What They Got”

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OWWT - graphics & beautiful pictures

More important:

  • What’s the reason to share?
  • Does it have a clear message?
  • Facebook - first 5 seconds
  • YouTube - thumbnail & title

“Zach Wahls Speaks About Family”

“Two Lesbians Raised a Baby And This Is What They Got”

1m views

32m views

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OWWT - music

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As much as 85 percent of video views happen with the sound off.

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Link

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OWWT - length

“Digital content needs to be scannable. Readers want to quickly glean interesting information from a piece and jump immediately to the next thing. Their time is short.” NewsWhip

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15 minutes

189m views

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3. Afraid of doing fewer & better

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Audience

Normal output

Exceptional output

TV

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Audience

Normal output

Exceptional output

Audience

Normal output

Exceptional output

TV

Internet

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TV

Internet

Normal output

Exceptional output

Normal output

Exceptional output

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4. Afraid of seeming down-market

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Facebook - 6m views

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Facebook - 64m views

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Facebook - 6m views

(YouTube - 4m views)

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Facebook - 17m views

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5. Afraid of having personality

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6. Afraid of having an opinion or point-of-view

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7. Afraid of experimenting

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8. Afraid of everything

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Biggest danger = irrelevance

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9. Don’t respect the new genres

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TV Genres

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Vlogs

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Gaming

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Animals

Nostalgia

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Supercuts

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Drama

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Video Essays

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Made by university student

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Films

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Science

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Politics

Nerdwriter

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History

Bill Wurtz

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Random crap

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What’s happening?

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What’s happening:

  1. “Public service” = opinionless

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What’s happening:

  • “Public service” = opinionless

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You start a conversation by saying something

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What’s happening:

  • “Public service” = opinionless
  • Niche vs. broadcasting

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What’s happening:

  • “Public service” = opinionless
  • Niche vs. broadcasting
  • Peer-to-peer vs. talking down

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What’s happening:

  • “Public service” = opinionless
  • Niche vs. broadcasting
  • Peer-to-peer vs. talking down
  • Bringing singular voices to something usually done by teams

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My favourite video essays

Video essays I’ve made

@brenkjm