Everyone’s A Critic - Video Reviews And The Democratization Of Information
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By Dominic Donaldson
Nobody could have foresaw the far reaching impact that the internet would have when it was first developed in the 1970’s, nor could they have had any idea how much it would change almost every aspect of our lives when it started to become an integral part of every home in the 1990’s. If you had told people a few years ago that they would be able to carry out most of their working day from the comfort of a desk in their own home; shopping, working, socializing, they would probably have looked at you with a pitying smile, but that’s exactly how things have developed.
We now get most of our home entertainment from the internet, we can order our weekly shopping online and have it delivered to the door and we can send all our work into the office via email or ftp. There isn’t an area that the internet hasn’t freed from traditional constraints. Video reviews on social networking sites like YouTube and Bebo have even made it easy to get involved in areas that would once have involved years of study and qualification like journalism. It’s this braking down of barriers that makes the internet such a democratic tool.
Through posting video reviews, blogs and pictures online many people have either used the talent they have or have been able to learn new skills that have in turn enabled them to break into new jobs, influence groups of people or simply do something that they enjoy doing like expressing their opinions about films or politics. There are three areas where this use of the internet is strongest.
If you want my opinion - The internet has given a voice to many people who would not have had one before. Video reviews posted on sites across the world make it easy for someone’s opinion on a political election or the latest episode of a soap opera to be read by people thousands of miles from where they were originally uploaded. Most of these postings and video reviews only reach a small audience and in many cases are only aimed at small groups of friend or communities anyway, but some go a little further.
In 1996 Harry Knowles started surfing the internet while recovering from an accident. He found that he could communicate with people online about his favourite subject, movies, and gradually built up a circle of friends who gave him the latest gossip and news from the movie business. Knowles used this information to set up a website and posted video reviews and articles that were both independent and entertaining. Today his site is one of the most visited movie resources on the internet.
Hidden talent - The biggest phenomenon to emerge around social networking and video reviews has to be the ‘amateur entertainer’. With simple equipment anyone is able to film themselves singing, dancing, acting, even crying, and have it seen by millions of people. Often the word talent is loosely used to describe these various feats but every once in a while someone emerges who shows genuine promise.
Recently a singer called Esmee Denters from Oosterbeck in Denmark was seen by millions on YouTube after she recorded karaoke videos and posted them online. As a result she is now recording in a studio with bona fide music producers and has a bright future in TV and music ahead of her.
First for the news - The internet has also had a detrimental effect on lots of industries including the printed media. The news on the morning’s front pages is now considered old almost as soon as it is printed. A whole new are has emerged in the world of media filled with competent amateurs who, armed with a laptop and digital camera, are able to post live news as it happens on sites that can be viewed in real time from anywhere in the world. It has been described as having a front row seat as news is breaking.
Dominic Donaldson is an expert in the entertainment industry.
Find out more about Video Reviews and online entertainment.
