This week's new Pew Survey on online video use is striking, if unsurprising: three quarters of people with broadband connections watch video on the internet. And more than half of those viewers share links with their friends:
Young adults are the most "contagious carriers" in the viral spread of online video. Two-in-three (67%) video viewers ages 18-29 send others links to videos they find online, compared with just half of video viewers ages 30 and older.
Video viewers who actively exploit the participatory features of online video -- such as rating content, posting feedback or uploading video -- make up the motivated minority of the online video audience. Again, young adults are the most active participants in this realm.
So TV, as it manifests on the internet, is social media. Already.
The most popular content? News and comedy, with younger viewers most preferring comedy and older viewers choosing news.
In a closely related vein, this is your last chance to participate in my little online survey about public broadcasting in the internet age. I've had 500+ responses, the results (which I'll make public after the paper is done) are fascinating and the comments are often thoughtful.
And that will do. I have to make a radio show, and then venture out to the only store I've been able to find with a 24" iMac and buy the thing before the drive in my present machine (which has been absolutely hammered at work and play for three years) actually dies. I'd promised the kids we'd get the custom option with the 256MB Nvidia graphics card, but that's looking like a five week wait from anywhere at the moment. And a man in my position just doesn't have that kind of time …