Commentary

The Office is Closed

by David , November 11, 2007

It's ironic how the Writer's Guild is using the Internet to spread word about their protest of ... the Internet.

No, the argument really isn't against the Internet itself, but their efforts to gain support from Web video users requires them to use Web video. Much like Facebook News Feed protesters turned to Facebook to protest, these writers are using the very medium that's screwing them over.

Don't get me wrong - as a writer at heart, I support the WGA. Web video is no longer in its early adoption stage and the business models must shift to reflect this.

From my accounts a good number of high school and college students are aware of the strike but only a handful know the real details of the situation. To most it's, "Oh yeah, I heard the writers want more money or something." Not very many people have a firm grip of how royalties are paid, and that could be a fault if the WGA is looking to gather support from this youthful audience.

After all, we still have YouTube to watch.

The WGA might want to consider tactical moves to get its take on the situation in front of the users loading down these Internet video gateways. Use social networking to make young minds aware of the real argument, so we don't think it's just about money."

YouTube is a good start, but so much more can be done.

2 comments about "The Office is Closed".

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David Mullings from Realvibez Media LLC, November 19, 2007 at 12:43 p.m.
Good post but they are using new media to get their point across. A search on Youtube for things like "WGA Strike", otherwise you would have come across these two videos that paint a very clear pictures:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=oJ55Ir2jCxk
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RjGbHHtbZP0&feature=user
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David, November 19, 2007 at 11:54 p.m.

Good Call, David.

But while we media-savvy industry folk might plop in the search term, I doubt the average teeny-bop or college student will. (Or at least cares enough to.)

*That's the bigger issue. WGA members can produce this content all they want, but it's getting it in our faces that's a much larger challenge.*

That link came to me via an e-mail forward. It's that viral, on-demand nature that's making Internet video so successful. That same nature could really be used to get that point across ... but the content has to be viral-worthy.

Now, if I knew how in the hell to make something viral-worthy I'd be sitting in your shoes, readers. :) That said, you know it when you see it ... or pass it along.

While writing this comment in the company of a few media nerds, another link was presented to me. Cheers to our friends at the Daily Show...

http://youtube.com/user/TDSwriters

That's viral-worthy.

(Thanks for commenting, David. I do appreciate it!)