Streaming video instead of 140 characters?
Written on 13th January 2008
4 COMMENTS 
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Although some people have just started to get used to the idea micro-blogging, a new revolution is already on its way. In everyday life, it’s still hard to explain why you would let a group of followers know what you’re doing. It even used to be in the tech industry, yet the advantages are evident now. Haven’t discovered them yet? Read some tips and make sure to hurry up, the next big thing is here.
First there was text, and Twitter was just Twitter: some sort of platform for your text messages. A new way of staying in touch with your professional and personal network. Then, all kinds of applications started to pop up. Developers connected photo blogging with micro-blogging, and services like Mobypicture have been offering easy ways to Twitter your photos.
Now, it seems like video will be the next thing on Twitter and other micro-blogging services. Several start-ups are focusing on live video streaming and ways of posting videos on Twitter.
Twiddeo is Twitter + Video. Login with your Twitter name and pass to start uploading videos. You can also send them by email or from your mobile phone. Twiddeo isn’t very popular yet, considering that the last video was uploaded 15 hours ago. Maybe it’s because they’re not offering live video streaming?
Something the previously discussed Qik, social network Next2Friends, Kyte and Seesmic do (or will) offer. People don’t have the time for editing a video, they just want to share a special or interesting moment.
They can do that by pressing only one button, and all of their followers can watch the new video. Sounds easy, right? And that’s exactly why more and more people with the right phone, will post those videos. Why describing your new car in 140 characters, if you can just walk around it with a camera in your hand?
Hopefully data traffic will get more affordable and Wifi coverage will be improved. If that happens, my guess is that all the text posts that describe a visual phenomenon will eventually be replaced by a streaming video.
[WebTipr: David Petherick, United Kingdom]
The Next Web Blog is closely associated with The Next Web Conference which is held annually in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. At this event speakers from all over the world come together to talk about, and show off, the future of the Web. (More info 
By cpinto on Jan 13, 2008
handivi.com is being built with that exact goal in mind: sharing special or interesting moments immediately, be it via a photo or video and straight off your mobile phone. If it tickles your fancy, join the alpha program and we’ll get you in on the next batch of invites.
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By Anthony Nystrom on Jan 14, 2008
Why enter Alpha, go to http://www.next2friends.com now and stream from your mobile live. Plus so much more, like a platform.
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By roelandp on Jan 14, 2008
…ignoring the interesting comment-competition for new members above…
It’ll be interesting to see how these things will develop in the near future. The article describes one way to use video: sort of displaying stuff (e.g. a concert, your new car, girlfriend).
The other type is vodcast-alike. The videos from http://seesmic.com (which reach me through twitter btw.) which I see are all ‘vodcast’-ish: people sitting in front of their (web)camera and having a monologue. All you see is the presenter, en face. This can have downsides, according to me: the presenter might have distracting looks or a strange voice or weird accent. Nevertheless I think these kind of video-micro-bloggers are very brave, exposing themselves worldwide.
The charm of twitter, or any other text-based microblogging tool, is the simplicity. Just plain text. Not that time-consuming! Sometimes an add-on in forms of a photo (or video), that’s allright.
As soon as the whole world starts video-microblogging eachother I’ll pass.
ps. http://ofeedius.com soon to be αlphα too;)
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By Daphna Davidesco on Jan 21, 2008
flixwagon.com is an interesting alpha to sign up for. The quality of the live mobile video they provide seems to exceed the others.
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