Comment by andreipop | Hacker News Reader

Comment by andreipop | Hacker News Reader

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I find the "shift" from traditional "scripted" TV to more home made videos vert interesting. I must say that the appeal escapes me.

I don't watch a lot of TV, but personally when I do I do it because it's a way to either: 1. escape 2. become informed

I can't imagine turning this on while I have breakfast, or "for fun" on a bus commute. I see the appeal in sharing snippets of my live in video format with people that may care about the banal day-to-day things (I think this is why I like Path so much - those closest to me may actually be interested in where I went for lunch today), but I don't understand the "hours" of "brilliant entertainment" that some people seem to get out of this.

I think many people watch TV because they need to unplug from their "normal" existence. Or because they seek to see something interesting, funny, or learn something new. I watch The Daily Show because it's funny, I watch BBC because it informs me, I watch Bloomberg because I learn something new. I don't see these need being replaced by vine.

Maybe I don't get it.

I think maybe you just need to bring a different perspective/expectation to it? I mean, I couldn't have imagined three years ago that I would choose to spend time browsing 140-character missives...why do that when I can read blog posts? And before that, why read blog posts when there are newspaper and magazine articles (online and off)?

Maybe the medium, which is just a couple days old, has rough content now, but its format and contraints will likely create a new field of creativity. I personally don't like watching video streams because they're...boring. With Vine, and vinepeek, the banality only last six seconds. And some people are already mindful of the creative process they can apply (I saw a pretty cool taxi cruising down Tokyo in the night, as interesting as any movie scene).

But frankly, I like the banality. Sure, I see banality through my own eyes every day...but seeing "normal" as it exists for a Midwest mom getting ready to go shopping, a 20-yr-old dude wrapping up a joint, a 50-year-old guy watching Saturday morning cartoons....I dunno, this is just a few steps from being a very cool (if pretentious) modern art presentation.

As a photographer, I'll admit, I've never understood the appeal of video snippets (outside of those that show earthsattering news events, such as the snippets from the Arab Spring) over what can be conveyed in a split-second, defined image. But for the first time, I'm kind of seeing how much more potential expressiveness there is in six seconds of "moving" pictures.

Interesting.

I suppose if we look at it as a medium for art than it's different. I saw a lot of what I described as utilitarian.

I use Twitter in the same way - it serves a purpose: I can connect with people or groups I need to ask questions of. I can share interesting stories / ideas that I find. I use it as a portal to those blog posts you mentioned, not as a replacement for them.

Outside of the art angle, I don't see myself "tuning in" to thumb through random 6 second videos. The Tokyo taxi scene isn't very interesting to me outside of context within a larger story, EXCEPT as a piece of art I can perhaps appreciate for 6 seconds and move on.

Like I said before, could be just me, I'm glad people are finding and enjoying a creative outlet that clearly speaks to something they enjoy doing :)

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