sarahcpr

I’ve never gotten into online communities. Social networks, yes. Online communities, not so much. What’s the difference? Well, online communities form around shared interests, while social networks form around relationships. As I wrote in “Most Valuable Players,” I think it’s the ultimate goal of most online communities to eventually become social networks, i.e., Flickr making the transition from just being a place where photographers gather to discuss photography, to also being a place where friends and family share their snapshots. I’ve always been more attracted to using the web to connect with people I already know, than people who I may never meet. You might consider online dating sites to be online communities of people who connect over the fact that they’re all single, but there is still some hope that you might meet one of the people you connect with online, and in fact that’s the point.

I say all this because, I’ve never been into online communities, until Seesmic.

Seesmic is a video microblogging site where video is the only mode of expression. No text. Just video. It’s a very basic concept really - you can post a video (either recorded on the site, one saved on your computer, or a YouTube link) and watch as people respond to it with video comments of their own. You can look at the videos that others have posted and record and post your response, or you can just sit back and watch the stream of videos being created and conversations taking place. The site is ingenious in it’s simplicity - and it’s taken video from being this very special, pristine centerpiece, to being something that’s posted on-the-fly, raw and un-edited, something that can be created, discarded and forgotten, just like textual messages in a forum. It’s just people talking back and forth about anything and everything.

I started posting video clips on Seesmic early Sunday morning, after I’d returned from a night out with friends. Since recording my first video that night, though, I’ve created almost 60 video posts and had video discussions with people I don’t know and who I’ll probably never meet, that ranged all the way from light-hearted and funny (being kicked out of the VIP section at Harlot, accepting a dubious award, and my thoughts on watches) to more serious topics that truly altered my perspective. I’ve endured side-splitting laughter from Floyd and Stacey, a couple in Florida who video blog both together and separately. I’ve discussed how being alive to see America’s first black president has made me feel with a woman who calls herself “faboomama” in Los Angeles. I’ve shared jokes, both good and bad, with Justin, a 15-year old from Michigan, who posts videos in between his homework obligations. And I’ve had heartfelt moments of clarity around topics that I think about all the time, like last night, when I wondered if the size of the universe makes you feel insignificant. An astronomer from Boulder who calls himself, ’skyguy’ responded to my question within five minutes:

Amazing. I’m only slightly exaggerating when I say that I love these people. I’ve connected with the members of Seesmic in a way that was completely unexpected.

What works about Seesmic is it’s sense of liveness and its potential for establishing true connections very quickly. The liveness exists not only because members are recording real-time, uncut footage of themselves, but also because the feedback loop is so quick and so immediate. When someone records a video of themselves, their voice, their pauses, their facial expressions, hand gestures - it’s very hard not to be drawn in. You just don’t want to take your eyes away. And after you’ve posted a video, and someone posts a video in response to you - someone who might be halfway around the world responds “Hi” out loud and in your face - you’re there, you’re recognized, you’re instantly a part of the community and it is a wildly addictive feeling.

What’s somewhat ironic here is that this isn’t synchronous communication, which some people might argue would be more immediate (and I guess those people would be right). But video conferencing (which I’ve tried on the dating site WooMe) with people you’ve never met, just doesn’t work. It’s awful. It’s excruciating. It’s nerve-wracking. Somehow saying something, then waiting, then saying something again when you’re ready, works much better. The fact that you’re encouraged to follow a topic or start one of your own helps tremendously as well. In a short amount of time, Seesmic has become a vibrant community of people who are connecting in an incredibly positive way around shared interests, inner thoughts and random ideas.

Seesmic is at a very special moment right now - a time where many of its members are regular people - not tech folks just trying out the latest service. Yes, there’s a whole slew of people who signed up as a result of Kevin Rose posting over the weekend (which was quickly covered on TechCrunch!), but there are just as many who have no idea who Kevin Rose is (sorry, this is also hilarious). Some folks are already lamenting the growth of Seesmic, knowing that it’s growth will bring certain death to the tightly knit community that’s formed so far (and potentially cause problems on a Twitter-like scale, if they can’t…uhm…scale).

In thinking about this baby community, I decided to re-visit and flesh out my thoughts on the natural progression of online communities, in wondering what will eventually happen to Seesmic. Will it follow this progression:

Will there eventually be ‘rooms’ where people will go to discuss topics within specific categories? Will users also eventually be able to form groups of like-minded individuals? Will the social network aspect inevitably come into play - will I eventually be having video discussions with my Facebook network instead of a bunch of random people - around more personal topics like “What was I thinking with that outfit last night” and less about general topics? Will Seesmic become the default video commenting platform that’s integrated onto CNN articles, as well as posts such as this one (already being done with limited success on Techcrunch)? How much do they focus on building a community at Seesmic versus having people use it around the web as a platform? It all remains to be seen. But for now, it certainly has the potential to be a killer app… and I seriously need to get some sleep…