Index of user generated content

Howcast Media announced the launch of its new site today, a venue for watching and sharing “instructional how-to” videos. Howcast, founded by veterans of Google and YouTube, also announced a directors’ program for “emerging filmmakers” to pad out video offerings on the site.

Howcast paints itself as a hybrid of “user-generated content with the quality of a professional video studio.” Content includes topics randing from How to Paint a Wall, to How to Get Paid for Donating Plasma, to How Not to Get Mugged, and so on.

“Online video is generally split into two worlds: user-generated content and professional studio content,” said Jason Liebman, CEO and co-founder of Howcast. “We think there’s an opportunity to bridge these worlds, and instructional video is a perfect place to start. Our viewers can suggest topics and content for videos on any subject they’d like to learn about, no matter how unique. Through our [New York-based] Howcast studio and our directors’ program, filmmakers can take all of these great user ideas and turn them into high-quality, engaging videos.”

Howcast.com invites video producers to contribute “what they know and love” by suggesting new video topics, creating and editing how-to text guides, and uploading videos. They also are soliciting “emerging filmmakers” to join their Howcast Directors’ Program, offering them an opportunity to “gain experience, exposure, and income” by creating how-to videos.

On a side note, George Smyth has been producing the highly entertaining “One Minute How To” podcast for several years, in which he invites guests to distill, in sixty seconds, the essence of how to do something. Topics range widely, from the recent “How To Make a Studio Alien Voodoo Head,” to playing blues harmonica, or one I did on homeschooling.

According to research from Accustream, user generated video (UGV) - things like video podcasts, vlogs and YouTube videos - scored 22 billion views in 2007.

That’s a 70% increase over 2006. People’s attention is moving to online video fast, limited mainly by bandwidth and the availability of content.

Other research highlights:

• Long tail videos getting substantial traffic - almost 20% of total views generated in 2007 were delivered by videos published in 2006 or before.
• UGV sites are attracting the attention of pros - There is a growing presence of both semi-professional and professional content inside UGV environments. For example, YouTube partner channels accounted for 10.6% of cumulative site views generated over the past year. Semi professional content grabbed a 47.5% total share on MySpace TV, and the Screen Bites category on Crackle.com generated a 17.5% cumulative share of total views.

Internet media is moving to the mainstream, according to research from Deloitte & Touche:

• 38% of Americans are watching TV shows online.
• 36% use their cell phones for entertainment.
• 54% of Americans use social networking sites, chat rooms or message boards to socialize.
• 45 percent have a profile on a social networking site.
• Online ads are second only to TV ads when it comes to consumers saying what has the most impact on their buying habits (65% versus 85% respectively).

More and more people are becoming Internet content publishers, too:

• 54% of those surveyed said they are creating their own entertainment content by editing photos, videos or music.
• 45% are making the content for others to see.
• 32% think of themselves as “broadcasters’ of their own media.

What’s clear from these stats is that new media is going mainstream, and it’s only a matter of time before advertisers follow.