Social Media: Is the Demise of Online Video Viewing Drawing Near?
According to a blurb in today's NY Times, a recent Nielsen survey found that over the past year online video gained fewer viewers. More specifically, survey results showed that the number of people who watched online videos increased only 3.1 percent from Jan. 31, 2010 to Jan. 31, 2011. While the number of viewers showed only a slight increase, the amount of time individuals spent viewing video increased almost 45 percent to 4 hours 39 minutes during the same period.
The increase in online video viewing time was attributed to the growing popularity of websites like Netflix and Hulu that offer viewers access to long-form video streaming. This shift may signal the beginning of the end of the popularity of short-form videos offered by sites like YouTube. To that end, in recent months, YouTube (owned by Google) has signaled its intent to focus more on long-form video content.
Although there may be a shift taking place in online video viewing behavior, I think that rumors about the death of online video viewing have been greatly exaggerated. In my opinion, video is here to stay but it may no longer represent a “stand alone” web destination. In the future, video and other rich media assets will likely be bundled with text and other written content as part of the online viewed experience. A good example of this is being pioneered by companies like Atavist—a publisher of long-form journalism and fiction.
Interestingly, the popularity of short form videos is just beginning to take off in the life sciences and related industries. As usual, it appears that lay consumers are way ahead of the scientific community when it comes to cultural trends....go figure!
Until next time...
Good Luck and Good Viewing!!!!!!!
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