So MTV has this new show called FNMTV, which is supposed to join together two important ideas: a return to playing music videos (yay?) and user-generated content (hmm?). The retarded idea is that they play hot videos like the new Pussycat Dolls and then people upload response clips. How Web 2.Ugh. Probably the best part is Heidi and Spencer getting called in to do several promos, which says a lot about the state of ingenuity for music television. [via]
So this is interesting because I've been thinking a lot about what you could do with web 2.0 tools if you had an immediate audience or immediate participation.
Obviously, it makes it a lot easier to get people to upload or participate when there's a strong mainstream message involving celebrities like this or Kayne's blog or Spencer/Heidi's social network.
However, the risk is that there's a tendency to not care about the quality of the participation or to think about the value of it, just to get it and that it's a success if lots of people send stuff in. Which is of course, bullshit.
So the greater question is what have played out as the most valuable forms of user-gen content? It certainly isn't response videos.
posted by Gavin at 1:17 AM on June 18, 2008 
User engagement = good.
User-generated amateur content = cultural irrelevance.
The entire "15 minutes of fame" thing is becoming literally true. Anything that is looked at by a million idiots becomes a discrete cultural milestone, but we're at the point where this is constantly happening. I guess ordinary people have become more efficient at getting themselves on TV. That, however, is no longer a singular lifetime achievement, and it turns out to be a colossally inefficient use of one's time for almost any goal. Therefore anyone who pursues it must be deficient in some way. Ultimately the programming will be targeted to suit that audience. And so will the advertising. Eventually, advertisers will figure out that audience is a very poor target, and will stop buying ad space. Either the content will need to change, or the network will die while looking for sponsors who cater to idiots.
Or, who knows, maybe food, housing, electricity, Internet access and consumer gadgets will all be free someday and we'll all be able to live out the Web 2.0 dream of running around and making videos all the time.
posted by BrianVan at 1:22 AM on June 18, 2008
Good question. How many good examples do we have? The participatory Stephen Colbert stuff was great, but what are the other examples? [Thinking.]
posted by Rex at 1:26 AM on June 18, 2008
well my 'greater question' is....
does anyone else think it sounds like they are saying 'effin mtv' as in.... ya know?
posted by Brigitta at 1:53 AM on June 18, 2008
You've already got Step 1 for the tween-targeted follow-up to the NY Mag microfame piece: "Submit a Pussycat Dolls response video to FNMTV".
posted by amy at 12:46 PM on June 18, 2008
Whatever happen to just plain running music videos without anything else? I guess that just went out the window.
posted by Paul at 8:23 PM on June 18, 2008
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