Watchitoo Has One Great Use. Home Movies.

A new website currently in beta, Watchitoo is a web video site with a twist:

What makes Watchitoo stand out is the synchronized experience. Users watch media and each other, via webcams, at the same time in one browser-based interface. They also can share control of the screen, rather than being restricted to one presenter controlling the content as with a webinar/demo situation. LINK

Now, it seems like the site is focused on groups watching various types of pro content together, like a LOST viewing party in cyberspace but I think they are missing the best market for a service of this kind.  Families and friends sharing home movies.

Think about it for a minute.  You just shot a video of you son taking his first steps.  In minutes you can have it uploaded to Watchitoo, send the link to your son’s grandparents who can jump online and then all of you can watch the video together and enjoy eachothers reactions to the video in realtime.

If this doesn’t sound like a big deal, go ask for a beta invite and try it for yourself.

I witnessed a demo of a very similar website about 18 months ago using the basic scenario I just proposed and an entire hall full of jaded webheads “ooooh”d in unison.

Five Thoughts on Live Webcasting (and Soulja Boy)

Soulja Boy is certainly now etched into the history of the internet for sparking a “viral” video phenomanon with his little dance and he continues to be a viable recording artist and live performer.

Like a few other web pioneers (i.e. Snoop Dogg), Soulja Boy has been doing some live webcasting and is all amped up about having made the switch from the increasingly obscure justin.tv to the surging UStream.tv

Now, this is all well and good, but why are all of these celebrities wasting such a valuable opportunity on such terrible content?  Sure, it’s kinda fun to wake-n-bake with Snoop but the numbers don’t lie and neither Snoop nor Soulja seem to be attracting more than a couple hundred viewers for each live session.

This would be surprising until you see that there is nothing compelling about the content and even super-fans are quickly losing interest.

So, here are a few ideas for Soulja Boy, Snoop Dogg and any other celeb looking to really maximize live webcasting:

1) Get a decent webcam.  Honestly, there is no reason to look like a low-rent camgirl.

2) Have a real reason to go live.  Let your fans know that you’ll be singing parts of a new song or sharing some never-before-seen picture of you as a little kid.  Anything, really, that makes the live webcast an event.  It’s nice for it to be a small thing, geared toward super-fans but they need a reason to turn up.

3) If you are going to be live, engage your audience.  Answer questions.  Even better, ask questions.

4) Tell your fans that you will be calling one live viewer during your webcast.  They’ve got to be viewing you to be chosen.

5) Play some music live.  Seriously, you’re musicians, right?

Smoke a Blunt with Snoop Dogg on UStream

As far as I’m concerned, the internet is the gift that keeps on giving.  Today’s gift comes in the form of Snoop Dogg’s incredibly lo-fi new live webshow that I think he is calling “Wake and Bake with Snoop Dogg.”

The, um, show, streams live most late-mornings (West Coast time) and tends to feature Snoop sitting in front of his webcam listening to hiphop and smoking blunts.  Sometimes he sings along.  Sometimes he just nods his head and smokes.  At any given moment it appears that 300-600 people are enjoying the vibe with him.

Sure, this is a far cry from that average 30,000 viewers that were watching the Shiba Inu Puppy Cam last year but when else in history could one be given such a wealth of viewing options?!

Check out Snoop live for yourself:

Online video chat by Ustream

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• Snoop Dogg tokes up on a live Internet show (snarkygossip.com)

Scotty Got an Office Job and Damn is it Funny

Let’s face it, the world of cubicle humor, while ripe for the picking, tends to end up being either a ripoff of “Office Space” or “Dilbert.”  What makes “Scotty Got an Office Job” so fantastic is that it captures the essence of office life in a completely original and authentic way.

If we are to believe the creator, star, director and editor, Scotty, these are all short films made without the knowledge of his coworkers or superiors.  Using a clever combination of webcam and phone-cam along with some great sound effects, Scotty has produced over twenty gloriously short episodes – most are less than a minute.

While this might not be the breakout hit of the season, his work deserves to be seen and appreciated.

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