Wake up! (Social) Multimedia is taking over the internet

When PC adoption exploded in the late 90s, I remember the ‘multimedia’ idea really capturing my imagination. Watching videos of Martin Luther King and moon landings within the Encarta encyclopedia was an eye-opening experience.

In 2008 multimedia has matured and it has broken onto the Internet.

In my 7 years as a web professional the most oft-quoted approach for websites has been KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid. Use simple text links, go easy on the graphics, avoid flash unless it’s really necessary.

But there’s a definite movement in the world of social media online that is rebelling against that trend - and as a user I love it!

A perfect example is a recent post on TechCrunch. The post, about Google’s dominance in the search medium, isn’t key here; it’s the execution that’s interesting:

1. Michael Arrington posted to disagree with Tim O’Reilly’s view that Microsoft should give up trying to compete with Google
2. In an update to the story, Arrington links to a video comment response filmed using Seesmic. Tim accompanied this video with a full post on the subject too.
3. Later, Arrington replies with a video comment himself to explain what originally made him post.

Take a look at the story, and immerse yourself in the videos. This all adds up to a very rich experience for the reader. I see the whites of these people’s eyes when they speak in videos and I believe in what they are saying. In a very spam-intense world, the interest in multimedia seems to be an attempt to humanise and filter out the wheat from the chaff.

I’ll be heading into the office tomorrow to ask how PlusNet can make more use of video to get news out to our current and future customers, and once my Macbook arrives next week I’ll be trying out video blogging for myself.