For some reason RSS hasn't been taken hold over the web. A few days ago Read, Write, Web tried to make sense of it all and confused me even more. The truth is that only a small portion of web users use RSS to aggregate web content to a single source. I'm thinking that Facebook has solved this issue for many people.
I'm a big believer in using RSS feeds in a Google Reader or iReader. I wrote about it here last year. But now there is an easier solution (though it is a bit of a walled in garden).
Alltop calls itself a magazine rack of the best content on the web.
You can go to alltop.com and do a search for a subject. Alltop will point you to the best blogs and sites on that subject. Even better, you can make your own Alltop page filled with headlines from blogs and sites that are automatically updated hourly.
You are welcome to make my page your home page, but it's just as easy to make your own by going here: http://my.alltop.com/
Fill it up with the best the web has to offer and don't forget to pick up my blog over at http://video.alltop.com/The Way We Watch was accepted into Alltop on Christmas day.
If you are like me you get a lot of links that come from friends to see this or that video. I've collected the ten that I still go to again and again for inspiration or that just make me smile. Enjoy! 1. Her Morning Elegance I've seen this 10 times and I still get a kick out of it.
I'm cheating. This is from 2007, but I learned of it from a terrific 2009 post by Web Designer Depot. There are lots of Kinetic Typography videos but this was a real pioneer and it's still so inventive.
5. Michael Jackson Vs. Mr. Bean Every video Patrick Boivin makes is better than the last one. I don't know how he does it. I'm just glad he's making these wonderful witty artful films for us. (Couldn't embed. But click the pic).
6. Be Amazing Maybe the most expensive book trailer, I've ever seen. But it's so SPOT ON. Funny and terrifying if it came to be...
Some really neat narrative possibilities are explored in this cool demo that HBO has put together that shows four different views of the same action. Most impressive is the sleek cubed housing that the video plays in. On the coolness meter this is an 11.
Can't embed this one, so click the picture or here.
The Vlog brothers, Hank and John Green, started a video meme last year. They decided to forgo text based communication in favor of creating video messages to each other. Lo and behold what they said was informative, funny and hit a nerve with the massive Young Adult literature audience.
They've continued making YouTube videos. Simple ones - talking into the camera - but using jump cuts to keep the message crisp and highly watchable.
Their YouTube Channel is here http://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers
9. The Long Haul Sylvain Dumais was featured here on my post earlier in the year. I like this video a lot but more than that I like how he used social media to pull in demand for his services. Using his own money, Sylvain created this video (with a team of talented producers, designers, production crew and actors). He uploaded to vimeo and the blogoshpere went wild as did mainstream media.
I recently asked Sylvain on Facebook how what he working on and if he was busy. He said, "Many
things! I shot 3 spots for a US client and I'm now trying to sell a
viral to a big corporation... I think it could be wicked - stay tuned!"
10. Your Video Here. Yep. This spot is reserved for your video. Make it with still camera, a filp, a computer laptop camera, your cell phone.... Just keep making it. Shoot. Edit. Post it on the web. Tweet me. I'm looking forward to watching. This post is part of a group writing project from the Daily Blog Tips community to put together the best of 2009 on the web - find out how you canjoin here.
On the anniversary of my first year of blogging,I wanted to share the bloggers and sites that I've been plugged into over the last year.
Blogging is just one part of a social media platform. Getting a good look at who's out there and finding where your voice intersects with others is an important part of the process of developing your social media platform.
You'll need a Google account to see these. All of these sites sit on my iGoogle page. Check them out by clickinghere.
Know anyone I should add during my second year? Photo credit:Andrew B.
Hat tip to Ron Callari for pointing this out to me. This video (by Niall Harbison) gives a step by step on how to add video to your boring LinkedIn profile. The video must be hosted on YouTube. Try this and point me to your profile page.
