Culture: User-Created Content

The Great User-Created Content/Co-Created Brand Age is upon us...here is what they have to say:

http://www.youtube.com/w/Taking-a-shit-while-running-at-full-speed?v=KuC_kG4ClJA&search=taking%20a%20shit%20while%20running

AKI COMMENT: But not to drag our blog down into a wacky jokes forum...MY SERIOUS NOTE HERE: VH1 has announced a major initiative to showcase USER CREATED CONTENT IN '06. This is huge (Ferch and I been tryna warn Virgin Mobile...) and reaches deeper than some wacky home videos in between the major label product. All brands will increasingly need to solve the puzzle of being Mass Interactive while maintaining cohesion. HOW TO COUNSEL BIG BRANDS/CORPORATIONS IN HANDING OVER USER-CONTROL and COLLABORATIVE PLATFORMS? People want to speak, and they are adopting brand platforms that pass the mic to them.

Some "quotes" to consider from a recent article:

"The Web clip is the lingua franca of the new age," said Hirschorn, executive vp programming and production at VH1. "We've always been good at pop culture humor, and this combines our sensibility with this wealth of new material. We have a clear mandate to expand from being a pure TV play to a multiplatform play, and this (a new show called Web Stuff 20) is our first multiplatform offering of the new year."

"Our (VH1's) intention as creators and aggregators of content is to treat our audience as publishers," Harrison said. "Now that we're going to be delivering a fully automated tool, users will be able to upload whatever video they want and they'll get a chance to get on TV as well."

This democratic element is something Hirschorn said will play an increasingly important role in VH1 programming. "Six or nine months down the road, virtually everything we do will have a viewer-generated component to it," he said.

Get at www.ifilm.com and www.youtube.com, www.myspace.com and frequently check the Top 10 Lists to see what the people have to say when they get a camera and mic and mass audience.