[Webpub] Seesmic - online video conversation

[Lisa C. Mayer]

Seesmic - online video conversation
Published: March 20, 2009

To view/post comments, go to
http://webpub.mit.edu/2009/03/seesmic-online-video-conversation/

I am not much for sending video email, and I am not a video blogger,  
but when I heard about Seesmic it caught my attention. Seesmic is a  
way for people to start public conversations or send private video  
messages. Users are alerted via email when a chat has been sent to  
them, or when someone has participated in a public conversation they  
started. I wondered how this service was different YouTube, Vimeo, you  
name it. I figured the best way to figure it out was to try it…(view  
post for embedded video conversation)

The downside of Seesmic is that (since its only about a year old) it  
doesn’t have alot of the bells and whistles you’d hope for from a  
video service. Conversations are asynchronous and if you reply to a  
poster it does not embed in a thread as we are all used to with blogs.  
This makes it difficult to follow the conversation. Conversations at  
time go off on different tangents, or take on a life different from  
the originators post. The user interface is also challenging - it took  
me some time to figure out how chats are ordered and how to respond to  
one person versus the whole conversation. I still can’t find a decent  
“about” description on the site.

The best thing about the site is its community. The quality of the  
responses and the incredibly warm and polite nature of the posters is  
what would keep me coming back. Perhaps its because they can’t hide  
behind their keyboard, or because there’s no voting someone up/down a  
popularity scale. Its an interesting social experiment - there is an  
instant sense of camaraderie and ease. If this was a live video  
conference it would not have been so relaxing.

For me, a successful post was one under two minutes. Responses that  
went on longer failed to hold my attention. While it was unsettling at  
first to watch myself recording myself, I soon got into the swing of  
things and shot off a few video responses.

I’d use it to communicate with friends in different time zones, but  
that would force them to join too. I can see where Faculty might want  
to use this as a discussion tool outside of class hours, but am  
struggling for how to use it otherwise. For now I think I’ll join in  
on the public conversations from time to time to see where this  
service ends up…


Lisa C. Mayer : web & database consultant at MIT- IS&T- DCAD
lmayer at mit.edu  |  617.452.4225  |  (gtalk & aim) lisacmayer
Join MIT WebPub! :  http://webpub.mit.edu  :  follow mitwebpub










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