Joi Ito points us to the latest gaffes on the part of YouTube (by way of Viacom), wherein videos of folk enjoying a barbecue are ordered to be taken off the service, presumably because of some copyright violation. (Class action lawsuit, anyone?)
Let’s presume for a moment that gaffes like this might only get worse. Obviously, it isn’t exactly a fine tooth comb that YouTube is using to search for possible copyright violations, as they seek to placate media giants like Viacom. It’s more like a brute force hunt based on keywords and hearsay.
So, enter something like ScotVid, a video sharing service that looks, smells, and tastes like YouTube, yet with a distinctly regional flavour – in this case, a Scottish flavour. And as the Smart Mobs blog points out, Chinese video sharing services are on the rise, with one of the leaders being a service in China bearing the name Tudou, that means “potato” (with no explanation as to this quirky choice of name, apparently).
Go on and have a browse at both of these sites, I think it is a wonderful idea and I’m about to tell you why, right after you finish scratching your head and saying “…but it looks just like YouTube…Why don’t they just use YouTube?…”
These sites look just like YouTube and fulfil much the same function. But as much as I like YouTube, it doesn’t quite do the trick for
- people who don’t speak English
- people who are interested in sharing with other people they may actually meet, since they live the same geographic area
- people who are disgruntled with the possible effects of the service being owned by a corporate interest
Grassroot “knockoffs” are well-poised to take some of the traffic away from YouTube. It is telling that the most notable default choice beyond YouTube (if one believe all the blogs one reads) is the regional facsimile. Possibly because of the reasons I note above, but also because that is the easiest thing to think of when looking to distinguish your service from the behemoth.
No matter how you slice it, the regional content providers will remain strong and relevant: for many reasons, but particularly because Viacom won’t come bugging you to remove your barbecue video from Tudou or ScotVid. Thank goodness.