Monday, November 19, 2007

User Generated Video Has A Place On Magazine Sites, But Where?

Video is king online. There is no denying that copy cat sites ripping off the huge success of Youtube will continue to pop up on the netscape. After-all, imitation is the fondest form of flattery.

There are basically 2 types of video content; UGV and PGV. UGV stands for User Generated Video and PGV stands for Publisher Generated Video. I have seen tremendous growth in video content online, but our company’s growth has been focused on PGV. So, this begs the question, is UGV good for your site? And if it is, where do you put UGV to get the most benefit for your site and not ruin the editorial integrity of your magazine?

My analysis of the UGV situation is based in the theory that not too long ago the average “Joe” did not have access to high quality video cameras and high end editing gear. Now the general public can often shoot and edit with professional results for a fraction of the cost of days gone by. So, developing a system where you encourage UGV to be of very high quality is important. Develop standards for UGV on your site and publish those standards. If users want their videos to be featured on your site, they must comply and in most cases they will. Why? They want their “stuff” on your site. Pick the video and do not just blindly run UGV as marquee content. Truly, this is not the best way to leverage the content for long term growth. To that same end, a legal document that gives you permission and assigns the video rights to you is important as well.

As magazine publishers we are battling to maintain strong editorial integrity while growing our brands online. For this reason, the idea of building special sections of your site for UGV is important and making PGV the focal point of the site is critical. In addition, I encourage publishers to blend UGV with PGV. For example, showcase 3 clips created by your in house team and pick one UGV clip as well. Users come to your magazine site for a reason, you are the leader, you are the source. UGV is often funny, edgy and fast, but the short term traffic results garnered from UGV will not help you build a long term brand online. As magazine publishers you want to be fresh and innovative online. But, you do not want to be a trend or a fad online. This will not help you grow the important cyber/fiber relationship that is critical to your magazine’s success.

UGV holds an important place on all Web sites. User Generated Content is critical to creating that fraternal feel we all want our users to enjoy. But, be careful that you do not get caught up in the USG craze and blindly give away your entire magazine site to the users.

Listen to this blog in audio form online at http://www.ryandohrn.com

Note: The views of Ryan Dohrn are 100% personal in nature and do not represent the views of his employer, any other person, company or entity in any way. Any similarly is coincidental in nature.

1 comment:

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