Next week is our last week together, and we've got another great guest coming in: Kent Hall from Yahoo! TV will be here to talk about new media and user-generated video from a programming point of view.
Also, we'll do class evaluations next week — very important!
HOMEWORK:
- Check out the Webby Awards, especially the Film & Video and Interactive Advertising categories. Nothing to write; this is purely for your enlightenment and edification.
- Check out the Yahoo!Video site. Post a comment to today's class blog discussing a) the overall design and function of the site, and b) three videos featured on the site (any category). Come in next week with good questions for our guest.
- If you didn't do last week's blog-comment assignment, go back to last week's post and get it done!
17 comments:
I really enjoyed Yahoo videos. I spent a lot more time on the site than I thought I would! I'm not too familiar with You Tube, but from what I can see the basics are similar with the two sites. The site was easy to use and had some great features that I enjoyed. I like that fact that there are featured categories, and you can just click on one and videos will continue to play. I watched the Animal All Stars for a long time! There were some really cute videos. I think that the site is more aesthetically pleasing than You Tube for me. (That is what I can compare it to).
I watched a lot of cute dog videos (Dog can't get up slide was funny), and I checked out some of the featured videos. One I watched was about the American Idol contestant that just got kicked off. I also checked out Love, Somerville, which was a cute piece on love advice. I think that it is nice that users can post their own videos, and you can also find popular media.
Did I put my comment in the wrong place? Where is everyone else? :)
I like the Yahoo videos site. It is really easy to navigate and was aesthetically pleasing. The quality of the videos is much better than YouTube. I like the different categories as well. I clicked on the Funny category and watched Soap Addiction, Stick it in Burger, and Dance a Day the Cabbage Patch. The videos started out funny but after about a minute I clicked out of them. But again, the quality of the videos were much better than YouTube.
Holy jesus, Hockey Bear Jamboree just made my day! Found it on Yahoo!Video.
I also watched an AP news story about the earthquake in China and a video called The Planets, which ended up being an advertisement for the book, The Origins of the Universe for Dummies. It was somewhat funny, mostly dealt with why Pluto is no longer considered a planet. Meh.
The layout of Yahoo!Video is good, I like how the categories/genres each have their own page with its own aesthetic to imitate channels. The videos were of much better resolution compared to YouTube and had better sound quality. I definitely saw the quality control in the videos, there were not very many amateur videos like what you would find on YouTube.
Not bad. Not bad at all. This site has improved a lot since last semester when we took a peek. It looks like the organization has been simplified. They are cleary presented below the video player. After looking around the pages, it seemed there were more advertising. I mean the Butterfinger Comedy Network?
I watched Charlie The Unicorn 2, and it was quite painful sitting through it. I'll leave that at that. The one thing that truly caught my eye was the trailer for The Spirit. It's a Frank Miller flick, so hopefully good stuff. This site has a vast variety, which means there are a lot of bad videos. You have to search a bit for that gem. I suppose I could say the animated shorts were interesting.
It seems like this is the kind of site for someone like myself who just came to browse through videos, rather than coming for something specific. I thought the site kept a very simple tone throughout each page. I ended up finding some stuff I actually liked though. I didn't get to watch "The Soup" over the weekend, so I watched the "Condensed Soup" which is apparently exclusively for Yahoo. I found it on the main page under their featured videos, which was very easy to locate.
That was the first thing I found, and I was a bit impressed with Yahoo Videos for having featured a show I actually like. I got the impression that the site was a little fancier than You Tube, but then I browsed through some of their featured networks and was proven wrong. You can find very You Tube-ish/"America's Funniest Home Videos" style clips on a network like Stupid Videos. I also checked out the 2008 Yahoo Video Awards network, which actually featured "Break A Leg" under 2008's Best Series category. I could probably spend a lot more time browsing through the networks finding more videos and series through Yahoo, and I think this site caters to people like me who might do so.
One thing I noticed right about about Yahoo! Video (do I have to write that exclamation mark every time?) versus Youtube was that whereas Youtube has a list-type interface, Yahoo has a much richer, more serve-me-now interface. The sponsored channels on Yahoo, like the Butterfinger Comedy Network, are the way of the future as well. The Purina "Good Dog" channel just makes sense.
As I love animation, I went right to that section. Yahoo is smart to have a preset list of videos, the first of which plays as soon as the page loads. It's much more like TV, where when you flip it on, you see content right away without having to hunt.
I watched Papiroflex, a video from Paraguay, and now I know the word for origami in Spanish. This darling video shows a chubby bearded guy using origami to make the world more beautiful. When I saw his earlobe plugs, I wondered if he was gay. So, when he turned into a bear at the end, I took it as a metaphor.
The next video began to play automatically. That seemed smart - if the user is engaged, keep them so. This film was Head from Russia. I thought how international this was seeming so far. This video about a head being served for dinner must have a message but if so it is unclear what that message is.
I was intrigued to see a special animation category for "Indie Music, Animated." Yahoo has been watching Youtube and noticed this trend in music video, where a complex story can be told despite a low budget by using animation. I enjoyed Dntel's Rock My Boat and its mix of illustration and photography.
I'll be checking out this site in the future to see new animation. Drawing on a wide international offering will help ensure that they have a steady supply of new content.
I do have one complaint. The content plays under a layer in the interface, probably to prevent people being able to use software to capture the video. But, this makes it impossible to copy and paste the URL and send a specific video to a friend. I'm sure Yahoo would say to use the in-page button to email the video link. But, many folks prefer the copy and paste method.
This was my first visit to the Yahoo!videos and I found it to be really easy on the eye and just as easy to use as Youtube.
Overall, the site was very functional because it offered multiple options for the viewer. What first struck me as unusual was the option provided to view an advertisment, instead of shoving it in your face. Yahoo!video also provided two main areas of suggested videos; one off to the side and one across the bottom. There are about fifteen different catagories of videos to choose from, which range from serious matters to funny clips.
I was particularly surprised to find one category titled"Hot Zone" which features clips of war on a personal level. One video I watched was of a surviving suicide bomber and her recovery. This sort of topic is not usually covered by U.S. cable news.
The next video I watched was in the "spotlight" category. It was featuring a musician by the name of Issac Frankie. The video had a time display, an email button, and a full screen mode, which is all pretty usual stuff. However, it also had a little "i" icon which provided more information. I really liked this feature. It made for clean looking display.
The last video I viewed was a funny video of a bear playing hockey. It was cute but not the best quality.
This was my first visit to the Yahoo!videos and I found it to be really easy on the eye and just as easy to use as Youtube.
Overall, the site was very functional because it offered multiple options for the viewer. What first struck me as unusual was the option provided to view an advertisment, instead of shoving it in your face. Yahoo!video also provided two main areas of suggested videos; one off to the side and one across the bottom. There are about fifteen different catagories of videos to choose from, which range from serious matters to funny clips.
I was particularly surprised to find one category titled"Hot Zone" which features clips of war on a personal level. One video I watched was of a surviving suicide bomber and her recovery. This sort of topic is not usually covered by U.S. cable news.
The next video I watched was in the "spotlight" category. It was featuring a musician by the name of Issac Frankie. The video had a time display, an email button, and a full screen mode, which is all pretty usual stuff. However, it also had a little "i" icon which provided more information. I really liked this feature. It made for clean looking display.
The last video I viewed was a funny video of a bear playing hockey. It was cute but not the best quality.
Being somewhat of a self-proclaimed YouTube addict, I'm surprised I never even stumbled upon Yahoo! videos before. The format is definitely a lot more appealing to the eye than YouTube's bland style. It's amazing what some cool colors and good quality video can do for a site.
During my visit to Yahoo!Video I viewed content on their Butterfinger Comedy Network section. The first video I watched was "Hinoi Team Night of Fire," which was an amazingly choreographed yet very shrill sounding video featuring a samurai man and a clan of wannabe Fanta girls. It's only bearable for about 20 seconds, so beware. The second video is actually a .gif, but I cheated and chose it anyway because I found it on Yahoo! as well. "The Dramatic Prairie Dog" gets me EVERY single time. It's hilarious. I'm sure most everyone's seen it before but it never gets old for me. The last video I chose to watch was "Soap Addiction," which could've been funnier and not so much like a running gag if it wasn't 5 minutes long. Overall, I was surprised by Yahoo!video and I'll probably be coming back soon.
I like Lauraelena enjoyed the yahoo video's site. The site is set up in a way that works with my personality. It allows for the random viewing of any video on the site at any time. However, it also allows for those of us who want to watch an "online channel" to be satisfied. I specifically appreciated the "onion news" channel which just streams every clip to me in sequence until clips have run out. This is awesome when i want to watch these, but don't necessarily want to keep on clicking.
I watched three onion news network clips, one music video (Shakira) yes Shakira, and one animation (not usually my style) called "The Planets". I enjoyed the high quality of the content, the ability to go full screen (without losing too much quality), and the ability to fastforward and rewind through footage as i wish.
I liked the Yahoo video site. Like everyone else has said, I found it to be very aesthetically pleasing, in comparison to YouTube; it just seems like there is more effort put into the site's looks and it is very user friendly. This site seems like it is regulated more than YouTube; I think it works for this site, but I also like that YouTube is not as regulated. The one thing that I didn't like about Yahoo Videos was that it seemed to be mainly just home videos of people and their pets. I was hoping to see more scripted, show-like videos, like we see on Channel 101 and FunnyorDie.com. I did find a few scripted pieces that were pretty funny, "20 Things to Do with Matzah," "Bad Parents," "Love, Somerville," and "Elevator." I spent a lot more time on this site than I thought I would. I watched all of the "Elevator" episodes and tried to find more scripted material; but overall, I prefer to watch things on Channel 101 b/c I like watching the scripted material, since that is something I would like to get into, rather than just watching home videos of people's cats and dogs.
I liked the interface for yahoo videos. Infact I was pleasantly surprised. Especially by how porly Yahoo promotes their video site. This site has quick upload time, good video quality, and SOME nice material, but I didn't even know that a dedicated video site even existed. This is yet another reason Yahoo is second fiddle (if not 3rd or 4th) to google. As for the actual content. I wasn't all that impressed. There is some good stuff in there. Not a whole bunch though. There seems to be very little continuity between types of comedy. For instance on the butterfingers comedy network there is a awkward mix of stand-up, and some ok sketches, but the really great videos are not made clear on the site. The MUST SEE videos. Again I really like the media player, and I like some of the content, but I am just surprised that it isn't better marketed. Some highlights I saw were Charlie The Unicorn 2!!! and watermelon nights... I am a sucker for singing melons.
I thought the site was very clean and unobtrusive...much more organized than youtube. I liked how there was only a few links at the top of the page, all very practically and conveniently placed. I was initially concerned about how I would access the bulk of the popular videos, because there was only a few featured on the main page, but I immediately found that under the 'explore' tab there was a wealth of popular videos that can be searched by category or all-time. The experience on the site was pleasant and overall convenient.
I thought the Yahoo Videos was layed out very well. It was very easy to navigate, and seeing how it changes throughout the day is very interesting. As with most online videos I loved the animated section, Shark Suit Musical.... need I say more?
Yes, what a refreshing alternative to YouTube this site is. I watched several videos from different networks/categories. I watched a few comedy videos (mostly stand-up, Daniel Tosh), a few sports bloopers(mascot loseshis head), and the featured "Elevator Music" video. Good stuff.
THE GOOD:
- The layout was well organized. Every possible point of click-able interest was visible and stood out from everything else on the page.
- No freaking annoying "in-video" advertisements.
- Very clear looking videos that have a seemingly quick buffering/loading time.
- I like how the featured video is right there on the main page. Sets a good precedence.
- I could spend a few good hours on the "Comedy Network," even though I don't like Butterfinger.
- How you can incorporate this to your "My Yahoo."
The Undesirable
- I'm not a fan of the fact that the videos play in succession. I think that disallows for the user to be in control of their content, to a slight degree.
- The design of the page itself is a little bland. I would make it a bit more captivating.
Thanks,
Brandon G.
Yahoo's got a nicely laid out video page - it's clean and uncluttered - I feel like it's the opposite of Myspace's page. I like how the videos are organized into different categories - easy and straightforward.
I watched mainly the news page, but was surprised to find that some things weren't on the front page. There's a video out there now from the earthquake in China that's prettyincredible, but instead Yahoo has Shephard Smith from Fox News talking to graduates in Mississippi. Oh well. I'm not a huge fan of the comedy page, however - too many dudes dancing in funny clothes.
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