Twitter is underwhelming at 140 characters. Any sane person would say “What do you do with that?”

Why limit yourself to so few words when there is a dictionary
and an encyclopedia available and limitless communication at your disposal.

Its brevity is both an enigma and its charm. It has been its weakness and strength due to that simplicity.

Keeping it simple is not without success precedent.

One of the most successful children’s books of all time was written with only 50 words. It was a challenge thrown down to Dr Seuss by his editor when he was about to write his  next book “Green Eggs with Ham“.

Simple is good.

The history of short and simple

Just over twenty years ago on December 3, 1992 the message “Merry Christmas” was sent by software engineer Neil Papworth to the Vodafone director Richard Jarvis.

That was the world’s first text message. It was short and it was simple.

Who would think that 20 years later that:

• 6  billion messages would be sent every day in the USA
• 2.2 trillion texts would be sent every year in the USA
• 8.6 trillion SMS messages would be created every year around the planetText messaging would be a $150 billion a year industry

It is the messaging of choice for most teenagers. The adults have also realized its time saving capabilities.

People have also understood that having a conversation is maybe not something you always want to do.

Twitter wants to transform video messaging

Twitter has just announced a smart phone app called “Vine” that allows you to take a video that is limited to 6 seconds and continues to loop.

It is not alone with the idea.

There are competing apps called Viddy and Tout that do much the same.

So what can you do with a 6 second video and it raises this question again.

Why bother?

Maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to put the boot in. Twitter took texting to a new level and put it on steroids. Maybe a short and simple video is enough to get a powerful message out that is memorable.

Is less more?

How could you use Vine for marketing?

Viddy thinks that 15 seconds is the right length for a video short message while Vine has chosen 6 seconds. Maybe there is some science behind both but let’s look at some possible ideas for marketing with a short video.

Here are 6 ideas:

1. The brand elevator pitch

Want people to understand what your brand is all about. The elevator pitch is where you wrap it up in one sentence or two. 6 seconds is maybe enough.

How could you make it visual and viral.

2. Product demonstration

One to two minute video reviews of products in your online store are now maybe too long. Why not experiment with six seconds?

3. Launching a new product or service

Explain your new product in six seconds if you can. (If you don’t then use YouTube). Maybe your messaging will  get better as you learn to communicate the key features and not the unnecessary.

4. Give your brand a personality

Social media allows and wants you to give your brand a personality. Use Vine to make it real and authentic. Make it quirky or innovative.

Many brands want an image that goes beyond bland.

5. Marketing a promotion

Use a 6 second Vine video to market a new promotion. This could  be a new book, song or  a movie or even an event. How long do you need to communicate something new. Remember the power of simple.

6. Announcing a special offer or discount

50% off. How long does it take to announce that special offer for your clothing store?  Make it visual, aural and shareable.

If you want to look at how 15 businesses are using the Vine video app for their brand. Check out this post over at Hubspot.

What about you?

How do you think you could use a six second video on Vine to market your business and brand? Do you even want to?

Do you think this idea will stick or do you think it is a fad?

Look forward to your comments below. Tell us your thoughts and ideas.








































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Unless you’ve been living with that Russian family cut off from human contact since before World War II, you may have noticed that pretty much every video worth a watch on YouTube has an ad in front of it.
This, of course, is not an accident. This is a carefully built and highly profitable scheme created by the good people of Google, and one that's been netting top YouTubers annual salaries of well over a hundred grand per year.

That’s right, that dopey guy with the Justin Beiber haircut is making around four hundred thousand a year for essentially talking into his webcam about nothing. Do yourself a favor and try not to think about what kind of money the Annoying Orange is pulling in—it’s hard enough getting to work on a Monday as it is, and knowing that the world's most abrasive citrus is pulling in more than you are isn’t going to help.
The latest twist from the brain trust at YouTube, the idea of the paid channel, has taken a page from the book of, If it Ain’t Broke, Let’s Try to Break it. When Ad Age broke the story, a collective “WTF?” rang out across cyberspace.

Remember TV? You know, it’s that thing you watched The Sopranos and Homeland on. And Game of Thrones and Dexter and Girls and Boardwalk Empire... see the pattern here? Well, the gang at YouTube saw the pattern, too.

They saw premium cable charging a hefty monthly fee, and they thought about all those millions upon millions of views their popular channels get, and it was only natural to do the math. Apparently a few billion views at a few dollars a piece is just too much money to pass up. I’m sure they then all did a good round of back patting and buying each other overpriced cocktails at whatever painfully trendy mixology speakeasy bar the YouTube guys go to after work. After all, what could possibly go wrong?

What went wrong is that they overlooked the simple yet all-important precondition of premium cable: the idea of premium itself.

What went wrong is that they overlooked the simple yet all-important precondition of premium cable: the idea of premium itself. The idea that this stuff really is the best of the best, and it’s worth paying extra for.
To put it bluntly, when things you want to watch are awesome (like The Sopranos), when they are so good you’d swear it was a major studio film, when the content is of such exceptionally superior quality that it’s worthy of the word premium—then, and only then, will the audience be happy to pay for it.

And premium, on YouTube? So far, it ain’t. To be fair, some of the better content from Machinema and Full Screen is beginning to resemble network television, but let’s all keep in mind the important fact that network TV is free.

The word is that YouTube partner companies Maker Studios, Machinima and Fullscreen, who control well over 10,000 YouTube channels between them, will be the first to take the plunge into pay subscription channels. Sure, these young companies have a huge number of channels, and tons upon mind-numbing tons of view counts. But the disconnect between what they offer on YouTube and what premium cable (or, for that matter, Netflix or Hulu Plus) offer is trying to find similarities between The Hubble Telescope to Kim Kardashian—only the Hubble telescope is undeniably amazing and has contributed immeasurably to the furtherment of science and the whole of mankind, while Kim Kardashian is just stupid.

The idea of premium is the lynchpin around which this entire pay-to-watch endeavor lives or dies. Game of Thrones is a multi-million dollar extravaganza—per episode. Whether or not Lord of the Rings-ish people behaving like sex-obsessed fourteen year olds is your thing, the production value is as undeniable as the gratuitous girl-on-girl action.

Compare that to your average YouTube videos.

Now don’t get me wrong—I love YouTube. YouTube is the answer to years of restless insomnia for me, and I can still kill as much time as there is bandwidth to be had, watching Russian car wrecks and GoPro cameras mounted to pretty much anything. But while these cultural gems are amusing, the words production value don’t easily come to mind. Nor engrossing epic. The same can easily be said about virtually all of the products on offer from these YouTube Channel providers. Are they funny? Sure. Entertaining? Sometimes. Emmy award-winning premium programming? Not so much.

Outside of the music video channels some of these guys provide (which, to be fair, do have some big name talent attached), are we likely to get the same high caliber content we as consumers have come to expect from the glossy media outlets that charge us a monthly fee?

You all know the answer to that already.

YouTube has also failed here to recognize their audience. An older YouTube consumer is someone who grew up on Napster. For a younger one, who probably started stealing music after Napster shut down in 2001, the idea of paying for online content is just an absurd story old people like to scare them with. Not to mention the fact that they are just that, after all: kids.

Are parents really going to give kids another $4.50 per month in their allowance so they can watch awkward guys do bad green screen parody songs? For money?

YouTube is poised on an enormously powerful precipice. Does it have the power to kill television? Most likely, yes. But what they seem to have forgotten is that in this country at least, television has a long history of being pretty close to free. We tolerated the ads in return for the half hour comedies, the cop shows, the endless hours of housewives of wherever. That was the deal and it largely still is. It’s part of the very soul of television.

YouTube seems embarrassingly tone deaf to these unwritten norms we have held with our entertainment providers in the past. Which are basically: If you make really cool TV shows that pretty much look like movies, we’ll pay a decent amount for that—but it’s gotta be really really good. And sure, if you can supply me with hundreds of A-list movies and network TV shows on demand and commercial free, I’m willing to throw you a few dollars per month.

But if all you make are three minute videos and you use crappy looking green screen effects as your sole “production value,” don’t expect me to pay a monthly fee. It just won’t happen. Especially considering that the other guys with the hundreds of movies and TV shows just got David Fincher to produce a big fat thirteen part series which I can watch for about the same price per month as you’re offering for your line up of low-fi web shows.

For three-minute web videos, you’ve already reached my limit. My limit is the five seconds of a commercial before I hit the “Skip Ad” button.

So be mindful as you enter the pimply faced years of your adolescence, young YouTube Networks. Remember, the fact is, any video on YouTube can be ripped, downloaded, and re-uploaded to a subscription-free channel faster than you can say “Hey, whatever happened to SOPA?”



































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Every person reaches a comfort zone. From salesmen satisfied with reaching their monthly quotas (and nothing more), to students who are content with just getting B’s, individuals in their comfort zones work at an anxiety-neutral state and operate without a sense of risk.



If you’re in social media, your comfort zone state will usually creep in the moment you’ve reached a respectable number of likers and followers. Also known as being on a plateau, this is a stage where you’ve already settled into your social media routine and your initial networking efforts have started to pay off.

Reaching your plateau isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s a steady state that’s usually free from stress, and it’s a good stage to be at when you’re celebrating your accomplishments. However, staying too long on it and being too comfortable can lead to complacency and ignorance.

While it’s perfectly acceptable to bask in your success (after all, you deserve it), always be on the lookout for new social media heights that can you can achieve. Remember that there are a lot more readers, fans, and followers out there that you haven’t reached yet, and there are still a lot of things that you can do to take your social campaigns to a whole new level.

Not sure where to start? Check out the following ideas that are sure to stir up your current social media state:

1. Utilize the power of video

Need a boost in your fan engagement? Then consider getting in front of the camera. Demonstrate your expertise using a how-to video or gain insights from others by interviewing them on camera. Want to interact with your fans? Do a webinar or conduct a Google+ hangout so can you can get first hand comments and suggestions.

2. Stop playing it safe when it comes to content

Take a good look at the content that you’ve published. Are you being too safe or too much of a crowd pleaser? If so, then you may want to spice up your content strategy by producing posts that will open up discussions or debates. Take a stand on a current issue or trending topic, and voice out constructive criticisms and concerns. Invite your fans to do the same. Doing so will encourage conversation, and will guarantee that your social media strategy won’t be boring.

3. Connect with other businesses

Social media isn’t solely about reaching customers. It’s also about networking with potential partners or colleagues so that you can help each other succeed. Fellow entrepreneurs or companies can be sources for referrals and recommendations, so be sure to make friends with other businesses as well. Find other companies or entrepreneurs (preferably those that complement your products and services) and connect with them online. Tag them on Facebook, strike up a conversation on their wall, and find engagement opportunities. If you’re on Twitter, send a couple of mentions their way, and be generous when it comes to Retweets.

4. Run contests or promotions

Giveaways aren’t just for those who want to gain more likers or followers; they also work great if you want to increase engagement and interactions within your current fan base. If you have a lot of inactive fans, consider waking them up with a promotion. This will not only stir up the activity on your page, but the excitement and contests bring can effectively get your out of your safe comfort zone.

In addition to boosting interaction levels, a promotion also can also act as a funnel for users. For example, if you want your fans to check out your blog or sign up for your newsletter instead of simply hanging out on Facebook or Twitter, then conduct a promotion involving your blog or newsletter and use that as a funnel to direct users to where you want them to go.




































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If you enjoy video chatting over Gmail the way you’ve been doing it since 2008, better wave your last goodbyes to your buddy list.

Starting Monday, and continuing over the next few weeks, Google is going to be replacing Gmail video chat with Google+ Hangouts. “Unlike the old video chat, which was based on peer-to-peer technology, Hangouts utilize the power of Google’s network to deliver higher reliability and enhanced quality,” reads the explanatory blog post written by the Gmail team.

“You’ll be able to chat with all the same people you did before — and, in fact, with Hangouts you’ll now be able to reach them not only when they are using Gmail, but also if they are on Google+ in the browser or on their Android or iOS devices.”

The search giant is eager to promote the use of its social network, and has in the past attempted to blur the lines between users of Gmail, Google Maps and other Google services. If you’re logged into any of them, the company says, you’re logged into Google+.

Nefarious network-boosting purposes aside, Google Hangouts is clearly a superior technology. In our experience, Gmail video chat had a tendency to stutter and occasionally quit — a quality shared in the past with iChat video, but not with Apple’s Facetime, Skype or Google Hangouts.

Hangouts also scales a lot better, making it much easier to add new people to the meeting. Audio is spectacularly good at long range. It’s likely the best choice for a company looking for a free alternative to Cisco Telepresence, for example.

And then there’s the feature that the Gmail team hints at in its blog — the ability to add moustaches, beards, halos and other personal decorations — not to mention cat and dog masks — which will appear to follow you throughout the chat.

Are you sad to see Gmail video chat go, or excited to see how Hangouts can boost your Gmail experience? Let us know in the comments.



































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iMovie

iMovie is Apple’s video editor made for the iPhone and iPad. Much like the desktop version of the app, the mobile version of iMovie lets you edit your videos, add music and transitions, and create a trailer for your finished flick.

Completed movies can be shared to your camera roll for sharing via email or iMessage, or can be uploaded and published directly to a number of websites including YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, and CNN iReport.

iSuper8

Miss the days of Super 8 cameras? iSuper8 lets you give videos you’ve recorded on your iPhone a vintage look, grading each pixel of your video to give it a unique vintage look. The app allows you to adjust the frame rate of videos you’ve recorded to 12, 18, or 24 frames per second and has number of customizable film stocks you can use to make your video look its best.

Vyclone

Vyclone uses the GPS in your phone to determine where you are shooting a video, and then matches you up with other people who are doing the same to create a multi-camera look at the same scene.

The free iOS app edits videos from up to four different iPhone cameras together automatically. You can also edit the videos together manually on your own. The finished product can be shared in one tap on Facebook and Twitter, and can be saved to your phone’s camera roll.

VidTrim Pro

VidTrim Pro is a video editor and organizer for Android that allows you to trim and edit your videos on your Android device as well as compress your finished videos and share them with friends via email or on video sharing sites such as YouTube. The app also has a built-in "frame grabber" you can use to grab specific frames out of your video to use as stills.

Viddy

Not for longer-form projects, Viddy lets you capture, edit, filter and share 15-second video clips, or "viddys." The app comes with a number of built-in effects and filters to use to create the ultimate short video . Finished videos can then be shared in one lick on asocial media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Videolicious

Videolicious lets you edit videos and photos from your iPhone’s library, turning them into a documentary-style film. The easy-to-use app has number of built-in video ideas and instructions on how to create things like a video thank you note, a product or restaurant review, or your own news report. Finished videos can be saved to your phone’s camera roll to share with others, or uploaded directly to Facebook or YouTube from within the app.

Lapse It Pro

Lapse It Pro is a quick and easy way to create time-lapse videos using your Android phone. The app lets you capture time-lapse videos, add different effects, and flip and trim your finished product. Videos created with the app can be rendered to MP4, MOV, and FLV and can be shared to directly to a number of sites including YouTube, Facebook, and Google+.

AndroMedia HD

AndroMedia is a full-featured video-editing program for Android that offers many of the same features you might find on a traditional desktop video editor. Features include the ability to add effects and transitions, to overlay title clips and captions, and to fade in and out video.

The app supports MP4,MOV,JPG,PNG,MP3, and WAV file formats, and finished videos can be exported in standard or high-definition and uploaded directly to YouTube from within the app.

CinemaFX

CinemaFX gives your finished videos a new look with its palate of 55 effects. Stackable with up to three effects at a time, effects can be adjusted to create your own unique finished look. Videos can be previewed side-by-side against the original, and finished videos can be exported to your phone in a variety of different formats as well as uploaded directly to YouTube or emailed to friends from within the app.



Just a few years ago creating your own movie would have required an expensive camcorder to shoot, and your own –- often expensive -– video editing equipment in order to polish your video into something you’d want to share with others.

Now most smartphones come with built-in video cameras that can often capture high-definition videos worthy of your 50-inch high-definition television.

In addition to replacing the camcorder, your smartphone can also be used as a video editor. There are a variety of different apps available on the market today for editing video. From basic video editors that let you trim out pieces of your video you don’t want, to themed editors that let you change the frame rate and filter of your video to make it look like an old school 8mm film.

Whether you’re packing an iPhone or an Android handset in your pocket there’s bound to be a video editor perfect for helping you create videos on the go just how you want them to be.

Not just for your TV anymore, most mobile video editors also allow you to share your finished creation instantly on the web with built-in integration to sites like YouTube and Facebook. Connect your phone to your television and you can watch your masterpiece on the big screen.

Check out the gallery above for a look at some of our favorite mobile apps for video editing.

Have your own favorite that isn’t on the list? Tell us about other video editing apps and your own experience creating mobile videos in the comments.
































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Want to feel more connected to in-the-know radio and TV personalities? Mobile messaging service Audingo sends users audio or video messages via text, email or phone call.

“Audingo is about belonging to the inner circle of select personalities and organizations,” said Matt Merritt, Audingo co-founder and president, in a statement. “Audingo’s vision is for subscribers to connect with their chosen personalities and organizations on a deeper level than other social media platforms allow – like having a few close friends, versus many acquaintances.”

Consumers can subscribe to personalities’ Audingo accounts via the personality’s website or their company’s website. Users enter their name, date of birth and create a password, or sign-in with a Facebook or Google account. Then chose whether they want the message delivered via phone call, email or text. Select the day — or days — of the week for the message to be delivered; chose from one everyday to just one per week. And select the time of day to receive the message.

A message delivered via phone call will show up as “Audingo” and once answered the recorded message of the personality will be played. A message delivered via text or email will have a link to an audio recording, perhaps about breaking news the personality is a local reporter.

The service is not only for radio and TV personalities. Audingo suggests people in business, religion, politics and sports could harness Audingo’s audio and video messaging services.

The company markets the service to media advertisers as well as consumers. For media outlets, Audingo presents another chance to earn revenue by expanding its offerings to advertising clients. Special offers and clickable ads can be placed alongside the personality’s message.

As Audingo acknowledges in their press statement, mobile is the best way for marketers to reach consumers. And personalized messages via cellphone — a device many people carry on them all hours of the day — is a close and intimate medium of communication.

DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg recently predicted that the future of social media “moves from text-based communication to video and audio-based, making it more intuitive and instinctual,” Reuters reported .

A Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising report from April 2012 surveyed more than 28,000 Internet respondents in 56 countries and found that trust in mobile advertising is increasing among consumers: “Display ads (video or banner) on mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones are trusted by one-third of global respondents, which is slightly higher than the reported consumer trust level of text ads on mobile phones (29%). While the reported consumer trust level in mobile phone advertising is still low, it increased 61 percent since 2007 and 21 percent since 2009.”

However, numerous consumers have voiced their opposition, or at least disinterest, in mobile marketing. (Although negative feelings about mobile ads can sometimes be appeased with coupons or deals.

Audingo announced this week it acquired $3 million in angel funding that will fast-track the company’s goal.

“We’re excited by Audingo’s initial success and look forward to giving fans access to public figures in the fields of radio & TV, sports, politics, music, ministry and more,” Michael Boukadakis, founder and chief executive officer of Audingo, said in a press statement.

Check out this video to learn more about Audingo:



Would you like to receive video messages from your favorite personalities? Tell us in the comments.

































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Recently the Pew Research Center found that 95% of teens ages 12-17 were using the Internet. But their statistics found that a significantly smaller percentage of teens were using video functions like chatting, uploading video and streaming live video footage.


The study did find that 80% of teens using the Internet used social networking sites, and video use by teens on sites like Facebook and Twitter was much more popular than teens who didn’t have social networking accounts.

Differences in household incomes played a factor into teens’ video habits; the study found teens from high-income families were more likely to video chat than those from low-income households.

OnlineCollege.org broke down the video use trends into an infographic below. Do you find the statistics surprising? Tell us in the comments.



Presented by: OnlineCollege.org


































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