Okay, so we’re chatting in the latest video about the comments section and trying to make it less insular and more open to new folks jumping in. Thanks to Ryan for bringing this up, as I think it’s definitely something to chat about. Lisa brought up the great suggestion of establishing a forum on the site, and that leads into a much larger discussion. But first, I wanted to touch on this idea of establishing a forum for the original FOG’s (friends of g14). I think it would make sense to set up a forum if we had a bigger audience. Otherwise, it’s just a space for Jessie, Ndr, and probably Jeff to chat with each other during the day. And they have Facebook to do that. There is actually a discussion board on the g14 Facebook page.
So, it’s a balancing act. Because I really don’t want the comments to drop off on the videos, but I would love for them to stay on topic about the videos. Which may let other new people feel more comfortable coming in and leaving comments.
There’s also the idea that a lot of our audience actually exists outside of the general online audience. Meaning, they aren’t the type of folks that jump on and comment on a web video. In looking at your own online habits, how many other online non-viral videos do you watch per day? Per week? And how often do you actually leave comments for them? For myself, it is a very rare occurrence, and my job is in the Web 2.0/New Media space.
Which is fine, obviously all we really care about is people watching and enjoying the videos. However, in lieu of a live audience or Nielsen ratings, we rely on comments to see that there are indeed people outside of our friends who watch these things. Right now, I rarely see that. Which, again, is fine because we’re really only making these for fun. If we were trying to justify Insert Show Here as something for a sponsor to get behind, something for us to make money off of, then I would be worried, because in the New Media business space comments often reflect popularity and loyalty. And while there is obviously some fierce loyalty being reflected here, there’s not enough volume, variety, and diversity in the comments and the audience to make us commercially viable. Again, for Insert Show Here, this isn’t really important, but when we launch the new show, it will be critical.
So, those are my thoughts right now. I’m all for Ryan’s idea of sending the word out about the show, whether we give you a hat or not. I think that ISH spreads well via word of mouth, but I would love to actually see evidence of that in our comments section for each video. We don’t do this for money, we don’t even do it for praise. We do it for ourselves, and for our friends, and for that larger group of friends that we haven’t met yet. Don’t worry, we’ll always love you all best though.
Matthew
