25th of July and Involvement

Okay, I have been blogging since September 2004, and initially I just wanted to place some stories on the Internet. Then I figured I could just write and improve my writing skills. And that is my main reason for being here. If no one ever wrote a comment, that would be okay with me. Okay, part of me would not be that motivated, but my main reason is to hone my writing.

I have started highlighting VLOGgers on a separate Friday post. Part of this is for me to involve you in my interest in YouTube. Well, that is all of it. And I know that people may not be interested in this at all. That's fine.

But I wanted to mention something I heard in a VLOG, the 25th of July. Anyway, he started out his VLOG talking about participation. He has this show that you can call in, and not many people do. But you know, what is nice about blogging or vlogging is that you and the people you interact with don't have to be online at the same time to interact.

The entire VLOG can be "viewed" below. It is pretty much all audio, and it is very long, more than 91 minutes. I listen to it while working or blogging.



Anyway, he wonders why people don't get more involved. We have 168 hours per day (it was cute that he and his co-host were trying to multiply 8 times 7 (for the amount people sleep), and both came up with the wrong answer – she (Sally) said 54 and he (John) said sixty-something. But most people, as John said, "value their time" but sometimes spend most of it watching TV or whatever.

Now, John will probably never read this, but what I was thinking is that instead of people calling up, in a YouTube community, he could get video responses to his "videos." He is still one of the most viewed video bloggers, but he doesn't get thousands of comments. Most of us just listen to his stuff, and he thinks, we just go back to watching television or whatever.

Some of the things that he says seem unlikely, but it is interesting to get his viewpoint. There are lots of things that our government is doing that I wonder about. I want to write a piece about Bush. And about the imminent domain issue last year. That issue scares the heck out of me.

Back to John, I think that he may be going about this the wrong way. If he really wants to foster a community, he should use avenues that YouTubers already are familiar with – like the video response.

I guess what John does not see is that his VLOG touch others, that we think about what he is saying, and that, on occasion, it may change what we do. Now, the next time I see a dead bird in Austin (something Sally was talking about), I will not kick it to see the feathers fly. Well, okay, I would not get near a dead bird. My OCD acting up, of course, but you get the idea.

I actually try and discuss politics at work. I tell my boss, "That was a bonehead mistake. You must be a Republican." Or "That was a bonehead mistake. You must be a Democrat." And when my boss says something insightful (a rare occurrence, but you have to be ready for it), I might say: "How insightful. You must have gotten that from a Libertarian."

Well, I think about discussing politics at work.

Part of my problem is that if, let's say I disagree with how President Bush is doing his job, what the feck can I do? I mean, I don't have a direct line to his office, and from what I have learned, you can't become an intern, give the guy BJs and then discuss politics. He likes his interns fairly silent, just humming a few things during the BJs. A joke!

But really, how can you affect change? You can't just call your local politician unless you have pictures of him being really friendly with farm animals – and that only works until he places a contract on your head. Or so I have heard. Politicians use petitions for toilet paper, so that is really not all that helpful.

I don't know how to really affect change on a more global level. I do know that this VLOGger does have a large audience, and if he would do the following things, he may be more successful:

1. Encourage VLOG responses. This makes it more of a community.
2. Edit your VLOG and cut it up. Instead of having 90 minutes of a continuous VLOG, cut it up to have several smaller installments. There are issues that are covered.
3. Do that fuzzy black and white visual. It is cool, it does not add anything to the content, but it is cool. Did I mention it is cool.
4. Get pictures of Senators and Congressmen with farm animals. Blackmail them. It works for a while.
5. Place the tags: lonelygirl15 and topless in your tags. No, don't do that. Really.

Me, I am going to hide under my bed. I fear the government and do not have a shoulder launched missile at home. I need one of those puppies and the manual to use it. You know, there is nothing about not carrying one of those on a plane, but four ounces of toothpaste? Dangerous.