The advent of broadband technologies has allowed people all over the globe easier access to the Internet and its contents. John Naughton (2006) opined that broadband access has led to the rapid growth of streaming audio and video materials across the Internet. Webcams became very popular then as people could record themselves and instantly post it on the Internet for public viewing. This became a form of blogging for them or later known as video blogging.
Video blogging has made it possible for normal people to become celebrities on the Internet. Some examples include:
Ryan Higa (nigahiga on YouTube)
(Image source: Screenshot of nigahiga YouTube channel.)
Christine Gambito (HappySlip on YouTube)
(Image source: Screenshot of HappySlip YouTube channel.)
And the controversial Lonelygirl15
(Image source: Screenshot of lonelygirl15 YouTube channel.)
However, according to this article in BBC Click,video blogging can now be done on mobile phones. Now most mobile phones come equipped with a digital camera ready for video-shooting and some even with the added bonus of on-board video editing softwares. The LG Viewty, Nokia N95 and Motorola Z10 are some of the phones that provide such customisation tools.
The article suggests that video blogging doesn't have to only be about personal entries or fun topics, it could also be used for recording news stories and scenes. This is also known as citizen journalism where ordinary people can also be providers of news.
But one of the pitfalls of this new technology, according to the article, is that some mobile operators only allow users to upload their video contents to certain websites. Web 2.0 consultant Kathy Johnson said that this is not how the Internet is supposed to work. She added on that people would prefer to have their content uploaded to whichever place they want it to be.
Conversely, I beg to differ. I do agree that being able to record and upload videos on the same mobile device is an added advantage especially for bloggers. However, I do not agree with the prospect that mobile operators should allow its users to upload their video content to whichever location that they desire. The reason for this is that it will encourage a lot of inappropriate and unmoderated content to circulate on the Internet.
One such example would be underage pornography. Almost every teenager now has a mobile phone, even pre-teens have them. Reasons for these are to keep in contact with friends and family. However, there are a handful who used it for other purposes - sending out nude pictures and videos of themselves and recently, a newer case where a 15-year-old girl was caught using the iPhone Beautymeter application to upload nude pictures of herself.
All this goes to reinforce my opinion why I believe that mobile phone operators should not allow its users to upload their video content to whichever site they want to as this may encourage underage pornography.
References:
Naughton, J 2006, Blogging and the emerging media ecosystem, viewed 18 November 2009, <http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/discussion/blogging.pdf>
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