Internet Video on TV

 I once read an article titled, "Will The Web Do for TV What It's Done For Print?" The article written for WebProNews suggests an ever increasing presence of web content on our televisions. This may well be the case. However, I would hope the quality of content would improve dramatically before web video over takes television viewing.

 Granted, there are millions of high quality videos aimed at specific markets and differing consumer bases but not all of these, and I dare say very few of these will have mass appeal. The majority of internet video challenges the intelligence of its viewers in a very negative way. Did I really need to see a guy skateboard on to a stair rail only to watch him slip and catch the rail in a place that will probably prevent him from ever procreating? Would you rather watch a political debate or see three college buddies slide their best friends hand into a bucket of warm water while he sleeps? O.K. I will give you that one; the college video is probably more entertaining. I think you can see my point. There is a vast waste land of stupidity recorded and uploaded to the internet that if we all watched would drag us ever closer to the outcome depicted in the movie Idiocracy.

Please don't misunderstand me. The internet is probably the last and only opportunity where you can use video to market yourself and or your business without spending thousands of dollars and days in production. With today’s hi-def video cameras and large hard drives video is easier to create and maintain than ever. How to videos for consumer products can save hundreds even thousands of hours of staff time, freeing them up to do something more productive than product demonstrations. Business marketing and self promotion videos can break the ice with prospective customers in a way print or a stagnant web page never could. A quality video can offer more exposure in a week than a print ad could in a year.

 So let’s let the customer decide. As you use your new internet enabled television will you quickly flip to the stupidest videos on You Tube channel or will you look for something with a little more entertainment value? Will you watch that video on how to lay ceramic tile like a pro or the one where little Johnny falls from his tree house and bounces from branch to branch on his way down while his best friends laugh uncontrollably? The decisions we make as consumers will ultimately define the quality of what is available to us.