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YouTube jumped the shark
It's a moment. A defining moment when you know that your favorite [web 2.0 venture] has reached its peak. That instant that you know from now on… it's all downhill. Some call it the climax. We call it jumping the shark.
— jumptheshark.com
I don't want to give the impression that YouTube was ever my favorite, but I can say with confidence now that it has officially jumped the shark. Sure, you can still catch transforming robots and the like, but I'm convinced that it's all downhill from here.
What brought me to this decision? Lucy in LA.
Lucy is a wannabe-actress living in the trenches, hoping to find some opportunity in the industry as she tries to survive on her own in Los Angeles. She decided to start a video blog on YouTube so everyone can follow along as she talks about her experiences. She recently made the front page of YouTube because she actually got a call back. I heard about her from Drunk Blogger, but I can't remember why I was on his site in the first place.
If you want to see her latest video post about her call back experience, check it out: LUCYinLA: I got a call back.
Now, I initially assumed that a video blog about a budding actress would be extremely good, considering that the star is supposed to have some level of acting talent. Either she isn't cut out to be an actress at all, or she just doesn't take video blogging seriously. I have never seen someone pick their face and twitch so much in a video. I also cannot understand why she says she wants to be an "actor" (that would require a lot more than just a call back, I think) and I definitely can't stand how poor she talks without a script. But who am I to judge her? I'm not an actor myself, and she's just a good girl trying to share an honest account of her experience, in the hopes that it will inspire millions of people around the world. (Because the life of an actor is really something to aspire towards; those people are anything but distraught.)
My real problem here is not Lucy… well, that's not the problem I'm discussing here. My problem is the lack of added value in any of these videos. Let's be honest: there is nothing in Lucy's video that could not be accomplished with a simple text blog, nervous laughter included. If you don't see what I mean there, check out another video by her and 2 "video responses:"
First of all, who thought of this video response junk? Do we really need an entire video from everyone who has something to say about the first one? Do all 3 of these videos have to be nothing more than people talking into their cameras? Snook talked about adding value on the web a while back; why can't we add value in videos too? At least zefrank keeps you interested by talking clearly; it's more than I can say for a whole lot of videobloggers out there.
But moreover, I have to at least give Lucy credit for using decent lighting and sound in her videos… as for her responders, what were they thinking? What are they ever thinking? If you are going to make videos, please please make an effort to produce videos of a half-decent quality. YouTube is packed with trashy, cheap videos from shaky cameras and webcams; sifting through the junk to find decent videos is such a challenge, that bloggers have capitalized on the practice by writing blogs devoted solely to finding good videos on YouTube. Maybe I should start one too… after all, with my domain not selling, I could use the money!
disclaimer: please don't take anything I've said in this entry seriously, unless you agree with me.
You've got to be kidding me. Lucy is terrible! I thought actors were supposed to feel comfortable in front of the camera. And how many times does she need to say , "I thought it was going to be, like, the most embarassing/worst/horrible moment ever!" After the first 10 times she said it, it's safe to say that her audience understands what she thought.
Either all actors are really like this and they only seem articulate because of the scripts they have prepared 24/7, or Lucy just sucks. Maybe Lucy should consider writing herself a script before taping her final videoblog… kinda how blog entries get revised before the final one is posted.
And about those video responses… ROFL such losers. Please, make it more awkward for yourself by putting up a video of, "Hey, Lucy…. about your comeback– I mean, call back… umm… congratulations…. and uh,…. good luck. Oh, and it sucks that someone walked in on you…. because, like, that happened to me, too. … Ok, bye." T_T These people can save themselves the time and embarassment by just typing those key points. "Yo, Lucy, gj, congrats. sucks to be you. peace."
I'll tell you why you were on my site, because it's the best site with a generic wordpress template on the internet.
Nah, thanks for the link though, I like your site, good stuff.
What makes Lucyinla so compelling is that she clearly is not going to make it. It's the struggle that we're interested in seeing. If you want good acting, go rent a movie.