12seconds.tv, the ‘microvideo’ service that became a viral success in 2008, is back and looking for ideas as to what it should become.
While the service never went away, it has been neglected by its owners while they concentrated on other projects. Now, in an email to users they’re asking what 12seconds.tv should be in 2010.
At its peak, 12seconds worked best when tied closely into Twitter. I often used it as a way of getting across a point I couldn’t make in 140 characters. With a 12 second video limit, it suited the brevity of Twitter well. Now it seems that the 12seconds team is ready to move on. Stating that “Twitter is so 2009”, they write:
“We originally built 12seconds to be its own video community and then we integrated it closely with Twitter. Unfortunately the “community” part ended up on Twitter making 12seconds more of a Twitter utility. We’re ready to move on. This doesn’t mean we’re going to end all Twitter integration. It just means that we’re looking for new ideas for 12seconds and to possibly change our focus.”
They joke that “Micro-Chatroulette” could be a good way to go but I think that 12seconds could still have a strong role within Twitter. No video service has ever integrated particularly well with Twitter. There are services like Twitvideo but 12seconds and Twitter are both all about short bursts of information so they suit each other well.
While the 12seconds team is bored of Twitter, it may still be their best home. The problem for 12seconds is that people got bored of the concept, but it’s a really useful one.
Last year 12seconds launched 12cast, an app for the iPhone 3GS that allowed quick and easy uploading of videos to the service. If the 12seconds team could persuade the developers behind Tweetie, Seesmic, Gravity and other popular mobile Twitter apps, they might just see a surge in use that brings them back from the “Whatever happened to them?” file that they currently inhabit.
If you have any ideas for what 12seconds.tv should become you can email them to the developers at ideas@12seconds.tv.
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