There is a real buzz around user-created content on the web at the moment. The popularity of sites like YouTube are sound testament to this. But, in order to find genuinely original material you often have to wade through a mass of lifted TV and film footage. Even if you do find the true user-created nuggets you are searching for, the talking heads and candid action rely upon people who have access to camcorders, digital cameras, or the most high-tech mobile phones.
However, as mobiles become more advanced this seems set to change. Cameras are now a fairly standard feature on everyday handsets and even video capturing facilities of a higher quality are beginning to appear, bringing the world of videography to the masses.
At the recent Internet World exhibition we spoke to someone from Moblog.co.uk, a new website which encourages people to film and take snapshots using their phones, and then share them with everyone else by uploading. Effectively it’s a blog for mobiles, hence the name!
Moblog has already been recognised by some as a useful marketing tool. Pop music group ‘Girls Aloud’ have already been documenting their day to day activities on the website, which has created much interest amongst their fans. It remains to be seen if companies will attempt to monopolise Moblog with fake user-created content designed to carry a commercial message.
John Scott
