A few days ago I was referred to an interesting site called Justin.tv. I’m not sure what to make of it just yet. No editing. No fluff. Your life, raw, for all to see. JustinTV is very similar to the Matthew Mcconaughey movie from years back, EdTV. Of course, it’s a slightly smaller production, in that there isn’t a film crew, but rather a wireless webcam that broadcasts your life. The site functions as a broadcast network for anyone that wants to live their life out on the web for all to watch. Each person on Justin.tv wears a webcam on their head and broadcasts a live stream of their entire day (and night. Watching people sleep. Creepy). This is lifecasting.
The site was started by Justin Kan, an entrepreneur and fellow lifecaster. He and a friend got the idea one night while talking about starting a business. They thought they were having an interesting conversation that other entrepreneurs might want to hear. They had many conversations that might be of interest to other entrepreneurs. So, they started recording all of those conversations and broadcasting them live via Justin.TV. Now, there are twenty-plus other lifecasters doing the same thing. And while, I haven’t stumbled upon anyone having any conversations that I found of any real interest, it is addicting, none the less, watching someone live. Perhaps, I’m just a freak, but I can definitely see the upside for those wearing the WebCams around.
This could potentially be a great promotional tool for your business, if used correctly. For someone like me, that is constantly on different film sets, commercial shoots and other visually appealing work, I think it would provide an interesting behind-the-scenes on how my production and marketing company operates and give our clients a unique promotional tool for their music video, commercial, etc. Of course, you could only use it with clients that were open to the idea, but I think there must be some value in this type of broadcast.
The greatest feature on JustinTV, as opposed to other lifecasting web servers is that users can log and tag footage. I and most of you don’t have enough time to watch someone all day long. But, what I can do is watch clips that have been tagged throughout the day as interesting or appealing. For my own use, if I was a lifecaster, it is a cool way to go back on my life and pull up conversations, meetings or other parts of your life that you might want to write or recap later on down the road. JustinTV logs and stores the past 45 days of your life. 24 hours a day. So, if I had an interesting conversation with someone last week at 1pm, I can just login to my account and pull up that conversation, then relive it. Of course, anyone else could also pull up that conversation, which is a pretty big breach in privacy. Especially, when you’re talking about million dollar marketing ideas.
It appears that the person on JustinTV getting the most attention is Justine Ezarik, a Mac user, blogger, internet lover and new media connoisseur. Whether she is getting the most buzz because she is well-connected in the digital world, or simply because she is a cute girl and there is “a market” that goes along with that is to be determined. But, she does have some fun and interesting things in her blog. Like the giant iPhone bill she got that actually came in a box rather than an envelope.
I’m not exactly sure what JustinTV’s business model is or how they are making any money, as I don’t see many advertisements, other than the five featured channels, including a One Tree Hill broadcast. That could be because it is still in Beta format. But, according to their blog, they are shopping the idea around to different networks and actively seeking new lifecasters. It seems to me that this could easily be a place for sponsorships and product placement and maybe that’s a small portion of their monthly revenue, but if so, they aren’t doing a very good job of highlighting those products. I assume in later months, they will have significantly more “Featured Channels.”
Maybe there just isn’t enough viewership for sponsorship, yet. One thing I’ve noticed is that these lifecasters don’t every really do much. It seems that if I had a fan base watching me (or was a JustinTV producer), I’d go on a road trip, or visit the zoo, head out on the lake and water ski. But, I guess the reality is that a lot of us sit at our computer all day. That’s why network reality TV is so much tighter, because all the computer screen watching is cut out and you only see the skinny dipping. Network reality TV knows that you have to have people doing things, thus all the competitions. If JustinTV created things for their lifecasters to do on a daily basis and then put together a TV Guide of sorts, then perhaps I’d tune in more often, because I would know that such and such is going to a political rally. Or this lifecaster is hanging out with Clark Duke today.
Giving the 24/7 programming a little more structure would go a long way. iJustine went shopping yesterday, but you wouldn’t have known it unless you happened to tune in around 2pm. I’m not saying I want to watch someone go shopping (unless it’s for market research), but if she had a schedule that said, “Sunday, 2pm - Going shopping,” at least I would know that she’s going to be doing something other than giggling into her computer screen. I love you iJustine! : )
So, my question is this: Do you think broadcasting your life to the world would help or hurt your business? What would you do differently if you knew that someone was watching you at all times? Is anyone interested in how I or others spend their day? Should I be a part of the new world that is lifecasting? Justin, call me and let’s talk. (512.785.9160)
Just trying out some new types of writing to those who read this far. Apparently, I’m a writer now, so that means I have to find a voice, supposedly. Feel free to tell me exactly how you felt about this style, story, content, etc. Hurt my feelings if you want, I just need the feedback or the people who pay me money will beat me with a bone whip. And if you're enjoying this blog, consider commenting or subscribing for free.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi. Saw your incoming link :) I’m calling you to talk even though I’m not Justin.
Nice post. I am going to add a portion of it to my site.