YouTube: https://youtube.com/watch?v=U7t1sx63T9w
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View count:23,604
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Duration:07:22
Uploaded:2011-05-10
Last sync:2024-03-17 06:45
Kari's video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpbfofUt1xI

Kari wanted to ask us a few questions. I answered them/
Hello Kari, this is Hank. You can tell because I look like me and this is on my channel, I'm not faking you. So I saw your video, saw your tweet and figured I would respond, even though a video response, which is what you wanted, is going to be harder for you to use, I feel like. It is harder to transcribe, and I'm not going to be as eloquent when I am talking.

So when I started the project I wrote these questions down. Did we foresee or even want any of this stuff to happen? No, we wanted something to happen, like, we wanted people to watch it. We didn't know that there were going to be a lot of people watching it. That was a surprise.

Um, turning up my mic here. Cause it's not, ok, is that better? Alright, um, so , No, but we wanted something to happen. We didn't know anything about online video though, so we didn't know what could happen. We had no idea that this, whatever this is, was possible because it had not been done before.

So that's been one of the interesting things about doing this, is that it's, uh, we are creating it as we go, so we don't know what we're doing. There's no business model, there's no community model, there's no other people that we can sort of go to, and be like, how did you do this. 

Um, Though, certainly now there's more of that. There's more looking to peers and understanding what other people are doing, and being excited about that. 

Ummm, so what else? If we could change anything about the outcome? I don't know that I would change anything. I'm really happy with who our audience is. I'm really happy with the kind of people we get to interact with, I'm really happy with the place that we occupy on YouTube. I don't, I think, (?~1:46) we are a big chunk, but we aren't by any means the top of what's going on here.

Which is kind of nice, to not have all the pressure of that. Um, and I'm happy that we get to talk about interesting and informational and educational stuff. And I'm happy that I can just, like, be myself largely without having to make uhhhh characters, or be completely crazy. Though, obviously, I'm, I don't talk even this loud in a normal situation, but I'm, yeah. I do, I am me.

I can't, like, abandon our brand because our brand is us. And, uh, it's hard to not be yourself. But, so yeah, really happy with, with how things have turned out, and I don't think,uuuh, maybe there could have been a better way for it to happen, but it doesn't seem like it to me. 

What are the most positive aspects of the YouTube community? I like that it sort of is a sandbox where anybody can do anything. Very exciting that, you know, anyone can put their content on YouTube and you know sometimes it's amazing, and sometimes it's horrible.

Sometimes it's, you know, content specifically for a very small audience, sometimes it's content for everyone. And that's just not something that's possible in traditional entertainment, um, or traditional media. So that's been, that's frickin amazing. 

And also that it's this, the entertainment has become and experience that is a two way experience. So it's an active experience. A lot of people talk about how YouTube or online video is going to go to the television, and they're going to blend, and it's going to be one thing in the future, which I just think is ridiculous. 

So, because online video is a completely different thing. It's a completely different kind of media, where you are active. I'm sitting in a desk chair, I have a way of interacting directly in front of me.

I've got my keyboard, I've got my mouse. I can click away immediately if I'm not interested in it. I can interact with it, I can go as deep with it as I want to. 

So that's what I think is the coolest thing about online video. Is that it's a kind of media that could not ever have existed before. And, uh, and you know, it's sort of like it's an extension. Like that was the case with the blogosphere with print media, has been doing this, but this is an extension into video, um, that I think is really exciting, and is a completely un-pioneered space, so it's very cool to be in it.

As far as negative stuff goes, I mean with any, like, opening up of things what you get is, you get a lot more people, making less money, and people, uh, it's easier to find content that, like, really agrees with your point of view. So you find these little like, knots of people who are crazy, but reinforcing each other's crazy. 

So that's something that has sort of come along with the internet. Also in general, what happens, what happened with print media, and what I don't want to, even though this isn't as big of a deal with video media anyway, I will explain first. With print media, what happened is the blogosphere came in, and they were like "we'll do the content, we'll make great content! And it'll be free!". 

And all the newspapers just PSHH, which is bad, because good reportage is expensive, and it's important. And it disappeared. With video, that's not as big of a deal because there isn't really very much good video content in the world.

I mean like, not good, there's lots of good, but not like "necessary", you know, not like sort of, like, we need this in order for society to function video content. And so, I'm a little bit worried about the effects that online video could have on the traditional entertainment industry, and whether we end up, like, hurting that industry, but not really.

Because it's television, its not like it's got a lot of like, it's culturally important, but it's not, you know, like if it disappears, it's not like having uh investigative journalism disappear.

Um, so, and what's the most rewarding part? I think the most rewarding part is having, um, really awesome people who think that I am awesome, and will do awesome things for me or with me, or to me. [Laughs], that will only make sense to some people in the nerdfighter community [Laughs], but so there are at least two moving GIF images of me. 

And, yeah, so it's that people think that I'm cool enough to, like, make my community and my content a bigger, and more important thing than it could ever be if it was just me.

So that's, that's the answer to that question. Definitely. And that's important, the fact that like, this job is rewarding keeps me motivated. And obviously there is no one here to tell me to do this, to like make good content all the time, except for the people I feel obligated to in our community.

So, that's how I feel. Thank you for your questions, and I hope that this was helpful, and um, tell your teacher you kick ass. Ok, goodbye.