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Online Video about Online Video

2012-06-29 (said on 2012-06-30 — implied: date said in the video; uploaded -1 days later) · letter vlog · Hank · 3:58 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube (also: Nerdfighteria, Projects) · mode: Personal essay · tags: on location, community lore, self promotion

Hank, at VidCon in Anaheim, deflects the punishment ideas from John's last video and argues that online video is less a revolution than a return to something natural: audiences connect with creators' character, and the wall between creators and consumers is gone.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Crowd greeting; punishment suggestions from John's video apply to John; the Canada-drive idea; Twilight livestream idea for John; Hank keeps his streak; in Anaheim

  • ★★ Hank says he did make a video, and that the punishment ideas viewers suggested for him on John's last video could easily apply to John, who has at least one outstanding punishment. (playful) — 00:00:00 · Punishment
  • ★★ Hank calls one suggestion, driving to Canada with only Mountain Dew, bread, peanut butter and $14, very good; it might be funny enough to do anyway, but he doesn't want to be blacklisted. (playful, hedged) — 00:00:22 · Canada
  • ★ Hank mentions an idea for John's punishment: a livestream of John watching the Twilight movies, 'a full day of torture'. (playful) — 00:00:22 · Punishment
  • ★★ Hank says he is making his video, hasn't broken the rules in a long time and is going to keep that streak; he is in Anaheim. — 00:00:22

00:00:51 — Why Hank won't show VidCon in the video: most viewers can't come; John's pass and the program

  • ★★ Since most viewers can't attend VidCon, Hank feels bad missing a video during it, but won't spend the video on VidCon because that would only make them sad. — 00:00:51 · VidCon

00:01:20 — What online video is about: Hank's unused VidCon talk; not a revolution but natural connection with creators' character; Lizzie Bennet Diaries experiment; walls between creators and consumers gone; why he made VidCon

  • ★★ Hank wanted to give a talk on what online video means on VidCon's main stage, but even at his own conference couldn't get a long enough slot; he wrote the talk anyway. — 00:01:20 · VidCon
  • ★★★ Hank questions calling online video a revolution in entertainment and media; he says it feels like a natural thing. — 00:01:50
  • ★★★ Hank argues that amid infinite entertainment options, many viewers skip the most entertaining viral video for creators they connect with, liking their character in the traditional sense. — 00:01:50
  • ★★ Hank says this connection is natural, not technological, and thinks the earlier way of being entertained was really artificial. (hedged) — 00:02:19
  • ★★ Hank says that with The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, where people play characters, he wanted to explore whether viewers can have that connection with a fictional character; a fairly successful experiment. — 00:02:19
  • ★★★ Hank thinks walls in media, communication and entertainment are breaking down, leaving people building what existed before: rants, juggling, skits and singing are not new. (hedged) — 00:02:48
  • ★★★ Hank suggests the old relationship between audiences and celebrities was artificial and that the barrier between creators and consumers no longer exists. (hedged) — 00:02:48 · celebrity
  • ★★ Hank says this is why he is excited about online video and why he created VidCon, which is a small part; the big part is that he and viewers get to be part of it. — 00:03:22 · VidCon

00:03:46 — Plug: John and Sarah play Wii Tennis on HankGames; goodbye

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: VidCon

Also: People: Sarah Urist Green

Projects: HankGames

Works: The Lizzie Bennet Diaries · Twilight · Wii Sports

Organizations: The Daily What

Rituals: Punishment

Concepts: celebrity

Places: Anaheim, California · Canada

Products: Mountain Dew

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