Convergent Thoughts on Internet Video

I came across an interesting statistic yesterday from Cisco. The web traffic from American video sharing sites for one month currently exceeds all internet traffic in 2000. Some are concerned all this video sharing might further clog the internet. Maybe so, but I think the more important fact here is the sheer popularity and pervasiveness of internet video.

Back in my grad school days, we used to talk a lot about “convergence.” That is, the point where internet and television — and other media formats — combine into one combined platform. That was 10 years ago (ouch). True IPTV (watching TV over your internet connection) is still a ways off and, perhaps, may not be practical using current internet technologies.
Yet the short-format videos associated with sites like YouTube are here to stay — and may, in fact, be much more practical for the end user and distributer alike. It may be a better and more interactive form of “convergence” than could have been imagined a few years ago. Many of the video web sites a-la-YouTube are simply social networks built around shared video experiences. It’s not much different is that then talking about a popular TV show with your friends.

The March ‘07 issue of Wired reported on the explosion of “bite size” content available online — information and entertainment you consume much like a bag of potato chips, one bite at a time (and perhaps with similar “nutritional” value?) In a post-literate, visually involved, attention deficit culture with high-bandwidth always-on connections, the popularity of web video can only continue to increase. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing… or good. But it is reality.