Insights from Hong Kong

Posts Tagged ‘YouTube’

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Streaming Live: Huffington Post Launches Online News Video

In America, Public Affairs, Social Media, YouTube on 15 August 2012 at 9:56 AM

Today there’s an alternative to standard cable news shows. The Huffington Post launched a live streaming online television channel that starts with 12 hours of live daily news. Called HuffPostLive you can watch news and provide sidebar commentary via their comment box (moderated thus delayed) or Twitter (real-time).

Screen Shot from HuffPostLive on 15/8/12

The format is a little rougher and not as “produced” as traditional news sources. In one segment a panelist was linked in via Skype from his webcam. His video stream was low quality and his inability to keep still made watching somewhat difficult. It seems we’ve become accustomed to “on target” media trained executives who know how to speak for television.

The addition of live streaming comments and the ability to record opinion via your own webcam brings the audience closer to the action. It’s also an indicator of our global attention deficit disorder. We can’t focus on a news anchor anymore without a stream of content below or to the side. Now we get to write some of that!

Why the move to online television? One media analyst noted the growing importance of YouTube:

“Now that almost everyone in the country is watching online video, it just makes sense that some people would want live programming, too,” said Mike Vorhaus, a digital media analyst who heads Magid Advisors. (Source: Media Decoders Blog of The New York Times)

Indeed HuffPostLive is taking advantage of consumers turning to online video for news sources. The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism in July released results of a study that examined 15 months of online video content. The research found, “YouTube has become a major platform for news, one where viewers are turning for eyewitness videos in times of major events and natural disasters,” according to Yahoo! Finance.

Back in April 2008 YouTube launched a dedicated news blog aimed at using user-generated content as a news source. Dubbed “CitizenTube.” Their mantra was straight-forward:

“CitizenTube is YouTube’s News and Politics Blog. Here you’ll find important breaking news videos from citizens; developing trends in the use of YouTube by news organizations, activists, politicians, and governments; and lots of other YouTube goodness. Hit us up on Twitter, @citizentube, if you see something worth posting here.”

Yet in the midst of an exciting USA election cycle, the most recent video on the site dates to May – when Newt Gingrich resigned from the campaign via YouTube. It’s terrible when a source as prestigious as YouTube allows a prime site to molder. It’s a bad example of the use of social media by a global leader.

All the major cable news networks also have on-line content. Yet none rely solely on live, streaming online content as their distribution platform. And comparing HuffPostLive with CNN the only difference is that CNN has a lot of advertisements on their site. HuffPostLive has yet to attract sponsors.

The site is optimised for mobile so you can watch from your SmartPhone. If you see an upcoming segment you’re interested in the site will send you an email right before it airs.

In may ways HuffPostLive is the Twitter of YouTube. If you want to explore news that happened you can search YouTube and see film of train wrecks, tsunamis, stage collapses and more. But HuffPostLive promises to provide a non-stop stream of what’s happening at the moment. In that way it’s like Twitter as you can see the global conscience of thought and activity as it’s happening.

Early days indeed. Yet 24/7 streaming online news is here and its first incarnation is HuffPostLive. Check it out!

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Social Media as News Source: Typhoon #10 Lashes Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, Social Media on 24 July 2012 at 2:13 PM

Typhoon Damage in Hong Kong from InstaGram

Tropical Storm Vicente took a right turn yesterday afternoon. This seasonal storm was due to side step Hong Kong and pass over the coast of Guangdong Province, China. Instead it got stuck in the South China Sea then took a right hand turn. It hit Hong Kong almost head-on.

Track of Tropical Storm Vicente – From Hong Kong Observatory

At 6:00 pm on Monday, 23 July the #8 Typhoon Flag was raised. This is an interim announcement as part f the government’s expertly developed public awareness effort. (Flag #1 means a tropical storm is in the vicinity; #3 means it can be felt here.) At a #8 flag businesses shut and all private vehicles must be off the road. Should you have an accident when the #8 flag is raised your insurance does not cover the damage.

And while the city was pounded during the course of the evening, just after midnight the #10 flag was raised for the first time since 1999. This is the most severe storm warning.  It was lowered by 6:00 am. Later in the morning the worst of the storm had passed, even if the #8 wasn’t lowered until after 10:00 am.

The #10 Typhoon that hit Hong Kong gives a perfect example of how social media is supplementing and replacing traditional news media sources. Updates of the storm’s progress were available on Twitter – check out the hashtag #Typhoon.

Typhoon on Twitter

This morning first-hand photos of the aftermath are flooding InstaGram and Facebook, like the one of the mini-bus at the top of this post. YouTube has dozens of videos ranging from the typhoon passing someone’s apartment to a 2:00 am road trip to McDonald’s in the midst of the most severe storm in over a decade.

The other benefit is the immediacy. We’re seeing photos just after they’re taken. We experience the national aftermath – and the state of roads near our homes. On Facebook I am a member of “Bayside Villagers” which is for people residing in the Clearwater Bay area. Local resident and proprietor at “Wine ‘N Things” posted detailed photos of their arduous commute to work today.

Getting to Work – From Facebook

With such a strong public information system in place, no deaths were reported from last night’s typhoon. Some 50 were injured. The man who ran for McDonald’s at 2:00 am during the #10 signal remains well.

Typhoon Aftermath – From InstaGram

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In Beijing, Facebook on the Radio – Not My Phone

In China, Social Media on 18 May 2012 at 10:31 AM

I am in Beijing on business and find it difficult to access my social media favourites. Twitter is erratic. Facebook is not available. Some say it’s the wireless access at the Fairmont Hotel. Others say it’s the Great Firewall of China.

Yet here I am in traffic on my way to Kreab Gavin Anderson’s offices in China World Towers. The top of the hour news is that Facebook has priced its IPO (initial public offering) shares at US$38 each. Commentators are saying it’s over-valued. There are likely to be investors from China.

Yet here on the street, few can access Facebook. Those that do use VPN (Virtual Private Networks) available privately for a small fee or in many offices.

China is renowned for blocking access for most citizens to global social media sites. In their place local equivalents have gained traction. There’s no Twitter but Weibo reigns supreme. You can’t get YouTube but you can get Youku. Across the spectrum of social media sites there’s a Chinese equivalent.

For Facebook investors, the premium paid today is done in anticipation of an increase tomorrow. Right now the revenue forecast by Facebook for Greater China is US$0.00. That’s the total estiamte of potential earnings for a nation of 1.2 billion people – most of whome are electronically connected and mad for social media.

For some the investment in Facebook today is a worthwhile bet on the day China opens to outside sites. The citizenry is wired. They already have strong social media habits. There’s an immense amount of time spent daily on similar sites. And of course the IPO has raised awareness. It was the lead story on the local radio station in the taxi today.

Facebook isn’t available “on the streets” in China today. The day it is, expect a tsunami of take-up. That may make the US$38 per share seem relatively affordable.

Until then, I’ll wait to udpate my status until I return to Hong Kong.

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Yo’ Rudd! YouTube Superstars Pay a Price

In Australia, Public Affairs, Social Media, YouTube on 20 February 2012 at 3:49 PM

It’s not easy being a superstar on YouTube.

Not that I have any direct experience. My uploads are limited to my son saying hello to my mother in America. But still.

Today it’s the turn for Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia and now Minister for Foreign Affairs for the nation. He is purported to be in a come-back bid for the top job. How else to explain that footage made years back appeared over the weekend. Kevin – as you will see – is not happy.

What’s not surprising to those who follow politics is the timing of the release. These out-takes are usually discarded. Yet years later – when one Member of Parliament calls for Rudd to be returned as rightful PM – the clip appears. The Sydney Morning Herald headline says it all – “Now It’s Dirty.”

But on YouTube you’re nobody until someone makes a parody video. New (and anonymous) user PoliRemix released a wonderful song sampling Mr Rudd and his expletive-laden outburst. I never knew Kev was such a rocker!

So – millions of views, news media reports, parody videos – YouTube seems to offer it all! It might be worth checking back in with UCLA Girl. Her video denounced Asian students talking on their mobile phones in the library right after the Japan tsunami. Alexandra Wallace wound up dropping out of college and moving home due to death threats.

Kevin Rudd already had to move homes once. He was forced out of The Lodge – the Prime Minister’s residence – when he lost the job. Maybe the parody video will help him connect with younger voters so he can move back in. Stranger things have happened…

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Accordion Diplomacy: Pyongyang Tackles ‘Take on Me’

In Public Affairs, Social Media on 13 February 2012 at 5:33 PM

In the 1970s China used ping pong to raise international awareness of the nation. Today North Korea has turned to accordions.

Yet that uber-uncool instrument does rise to the occasion when five talented musicians perform “Take On Me” by A-Ha. This 1980s pop hit is morphed into upbeat “elevator in a disco” music.

And the You Tube video has scored in excess of a million hits. And when you watch it you’ll see why it’s so wildly popular.

Make that a million and one hits? Take That!

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