Vloggers + UGC rivalling studios + conglomerates?

Certainly not a new topic this, although I haven't completed adding tags to the entire archive of posts, you'll see that 'UGC' (user-generated content) is a common topic (and I'll have a look to add 'vlogger' where appropriate: video-based bloggers).

Gradually being updated - use the tag clouds!

I blog again on this as its a topic we've been discussing in recent lessons, and I've reflected on in recent posts. As Media students today, the demands on and expectations of you are higher than in the past - with the technology at your fingertips, there is an expectation of at least 'prosumer' levels of quality, ideally there being no clear indication (or anchorage) of your work as student productions at all.

Fragment of a past post on this topic.

The skills you're developing are highly marketable and valuable:

Some high-profile video bloggers are thought to earn up to £4,000 for mentioning a specific product on one of their entries and may be paid up to £20,000 for advertisements on their YouTube sites, according to an estimate from the digital marketing firm eight&four. (Guardian)

We're beginning to see the emergence of vlogger stars:

The popularity of independent young video bloggers, the "vloggers" who film their thoughts and observations for thousands of followers to enjoy online, is already setting the future shape of marketing and advertising. But it is also becoming an important route into traditional careers in print publishing or television, according to Alfie Deyes, the vlogger with more than three million subscribers who was mobbed by 8,000 fans at his book launch earlier this month.
Speaking to the Observer after the publicity furore surrounding the publication of his first volume, The Pointless Book, which already tops the Amazon bestsellers list, Deyes, 21, said he would consider moving into the world of conventional, networked television and radio if he was in charge of the content.
"Having creative control, as well as carrying out the whole process myself – shooting, editing and post-production – of all my videos is important," he said, "but I would not completely reject TV. If something were to come up where I had enough control and it was suitable for my fanbase, I would consider it."

Those of you who have viewed my documentary on the 2014 Media productions may have noted that one of the students featured runs his own successful pranks video channel, with 100s of subscribers, while a trailer for the 2013 AS production The Asylum (the film opening itself was selected for a national film festival) has notched up around 70,000 views! That's enough to create a modest income stream.

Read more on this.

So ... as you work on vodcasts and use social media to (b)log your progress, but also trying to whip up interest, see if you can use tags and social marketing tools to drive an audience towards your work!