New Technology TV

It's no secret that video sharing websites like YouTube are wildly popular, but it may be less evident that they're part of a larger shift in how society shares information. For one thing, the rising popularity of video sharing, and the Internet in general, is getting in the way of the ability of advertisers to reach consumers with messages about their products. This can be seen from the fracturing of how society identifies with advertisements and pop culture in general. For example, anyone who watched TV back in the eighties at least has an idea of what what "Where's the beef?" is in reference to. Now though, with all of the different forms of media serving as distractions from normal TV advertising, there isn't the same kind of common ground. People across different parts of society no longer have shared jokes that come from advertisements. Of course this is largely a result of combinations of different video and television technologies. For example, digital camcorders are more widely available. As are computers with hardware and software capable of editing those videos. Of course, the addition of the growing prevalence of high speed Internet connections make sharing these home made videos online much easier too. As a result, there's an entire subset of society- one that relies on the Internet largely for its entertainment- that would be totally unaware of the Super Bowl ad with a bunch of cowboys herding cats if that particular video clip hadn't found its way onto YouTube.

Now advertisers are trying to capitalize on the growing ability of the general public to produce their own videos by drafting the creative abilities of consumers to make advertisements for big companies. This tactic has several advantages for the companies. Most obviously, with these programs largely appearing in the form of contests, advertisers get a wide pool of ads to choose from for relatively little money per ad. But this tactic goes beyond simple economics. Ads made by amateurs have the advantage of appealing to consumers in an entirely different way than professionally produced ads do. For one thing, the ads are presumed to be made by people who have some kind of a passion for the product that's the subject of the video. Because of the fact that real people are endorsing that product, there's a lot more credibility in the ad than would come from someone who's being paid to produce the ad.

Unfortunately for these companies though, the motives of people participating in these contests aren't always so pure. Many of the participants submit ads in an effort to gain attention that may lead to a job in advertising. Then there are the ads submitted that make fun of the product being advertised. These satirical ads were featured in a recent campaign by Chevy to promote its Tahoe. While there were plenty of ads praising the Tahoe, the campaign also served as an opportunity for people to blast the Tahoe as a gas guzzler and all that the label implies about energy security and the environment.

Even if newer video technology is fracturing the sense of common ground that we have previously enjoyed as a result of TV as a society, at least it also means that individuals can express themselves as never before.