Enough with user-created content

Moving the end user to center stage is the effort made by weblogs (which, deprived of We, remain blogs). The Web 2.0 scene, therefore, put the spotlight on the people , who writes, produces and directly uses the contents. To this trend of the so-called UGC (User Generated Content, that is, the content generated by users), there is someone who preferred to say no : it is ManiaTV, an online TV that, as Business Week points out, has deemed it best to do step back .

“People love good quality entertainment, as do advertisers,” says Peter Hoskins, Chief Executive of ManiaTV. “Advertisers want to keep as much distance from user-generated content as possible.” With these words, the head of the TV outlined a picture in contrast with the world of online video, which emerged from the observation of accurate statistics, which does not seem to leave room with exceptions. ManiaTV, in fact, to reach this conclusion, examined the traffic data in different periods in which the contents were diversified . When, shortly after its first so-called “traditional” programming, it was commercial quality content side by side the ability to upload movies to YouTube, the TV has gained a lot of traffic: 10 million of visitors per month, according to internal statistics. A respectable figure from which, however, the managers have come up with something more interesting. Of those 10 million, 8 continued to view alone quality content and only 2 targeted also to UGC content. Still unsatisfied, the team also looked at the content advertisers viewed, noting that nobody of them viewed nothing but traditional content.

Thus, Business Week explains, together with the in-depth analysis of technical and commercial factors, the decision was naturally formed reverse course and since yesterday ManiaTV announces it on its website, subtly highlighting those qualitative aspects that led to the decision.

This episode may be seen as the prelude to one generalized reverse of Web 2.0? It seems so, and BlinkBox proves it, a brand new startup, which has been able to make good use of the imagination. In fact, TechCrunch illustrates that the new site allows users, in full Web 2.0 standard , to insert their own personal comment in pre-existing advertising clips (editable and shortened) and thus compose a new product that can then be sold, with the support of BlinkBox itself. The concept, explains TechCrunch, recalls that of the pre-existing and similar Clip + Sling launched at the beginning of the year but BlinkBox, as a novelty just inaugurated reassures on… the safety of Web 2.0 economics.

Marco Valerio Principality