the valule of viral video and the second hand experience

viral video is a pretty cool idea. make a video on a low budget. maybe shoot it on your flip camera and post it to the web. the idea is, its not the production that brings value to your story but something else.

my friend fransisco said to me that he likes how you can experience something in real life and capture that moment on your flip camera and take it home with you. you can open the video on your computer and re-experience that moment in a new context and you can share that experience with other people.

i think that is great! but what is the value of that experience?

how about this experience? i bet you always wanted to hang out with a couple of microsoft testers and geek out with them about bing! well, now you can:



i don't know how long the video is because i didn't watch the whole thing.

i found this page through a link on a blog critiquing the marketing strategy leading up to bing! launch.

i bet these guys had a lot of fun when they were making the video. you can tell by the jokes they tell each other and how they laugh. i bet they're great pals. but something seems to be lost in re-contextualizing that moment for second hand experience.

i met today with fransisco and we explored the possibility of making some viral video for his website. website design aside, how might i create a video that will be able to transcend that re-contextualizing process? as a local seattle video artist i want to know, is there a way to instigate a moment that might even benefit gain new meaning through going viral?