I watch only a handful of vidcasts each day, and after I recently added a new one (Wallstrip) to my must-see list I realized that almost every single vidcast I watch is anchored by a leading lady. Coincidence? Hmm…
Today my goal isn’t to analyze gender roles in the online video space, sorry to disappoint those readers were expecting a poll of who’s more attractive or whatever - I’ll leave stuff like that to the good peeps over at Valleywag. My goal today is, in fact, threefold.
First, I’d like to showcase the excellent vidcasts I subscribe to that are anchored by women. Second, hopefully I can introduce viewers to great new content produced online (but I suspect not, since most of the ones I’ve listed are very popular). Thirdly, and more importantly, I’m like to ask our readers for suggestions on other vidcasts we should be watching. I’m kinda hooked right now on vidcasts and podcasts so if you have some suggestions, post them in the comments below please.
Moving forward Juxtaviews will be paying attention to whether or not video will kill the blogger. That’s a much larger discussion because the term “blogger” has grown to encompass so many different beasts. Let’s just take WallStrip for example. For the most part I think you could take the news and editorial content found in a normal Wallstrip vidcast, (today’s format is a little different from what they usually do), and run it word for word as a blog post no problem. In fact, I think their vidcasts would translate very well to a blog posts, but would they be as successful if they were just in writing? I think not.
Below are 6 vidcasts I subscribe to listed in order, by anchor’s last name (and I just realized I have no idea why I did that). Since we’re always looking for more great content here at juxtaviews, please feel free to post your favorite vidcasts in the comments section below.
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Site: Wallstrip Tagline: “Stock culture meets pop culture” Updated: Daily. I first found Wallstrip when I was introduced to the interview with James Altucher of StockPickr.com - we obviously love interviews here. Then came their Apple post. Two good posts in a row? I subscribed. They’re new to the vidcast game but Lindsey and Howard are doing an excellent job and recently found their way into Business Week - which provides a very good overview of the Wallstrip product. For someone like myself who’s not a huge stock market buff, the format of pop culture meets stock culture makes sense. Suggestion though - recently I’ve felt their content has been focusing on themselves a little too much versus giving the viewers information. They’re still fairly new, so I’m sure they’ll work out the kinks. |
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Site: Rocketboom Tagline: NA Updated: Daily. I’ll admit I wasn’t introduced to Rocketboom until I caught wind of the drama between Amanda Congdon (former RocketBoom host) and Drew Baron (Rocketboom Founder). So I’ve been primarily watching Joanne Colan lead the way ever since. The reason I watch is simple - every day of the week I get cultural stimuli. Colan does a great job with the stories both behind the desk and out in the park and the quality of both the content and video production are excellent. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say Rocketboom, one of the first and most popular vidcasts online, is the standard of which all vidcasts attempt to emulate - it’s both entertaining and informative. |
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Site: Amandon Congdon on ABCNews.com Tagline: NA Updated: Weekly. So, ever since Congdon and Rocketboom parted ways the web/tech news media seemed obliged to update us as to what Congdon has been up to. She’s now over at ABCNews and keeping up with her quirky ways. Recently she tried out a taser gun on herself which gained a bit of publicity for just being CRAZY. She’s comfortable both behind the desk and out in the field (as you’ll see in the previous taser link). As far as watching her online goes - the ABCNews video player is so damn annoying. I assumed I’d be able to get my video player to subscribe to her video feed but right now my feed reader isn’t displaying the vidasts so I don’t know if its their feed or my video player. |
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Site: GeekBrief.TV Tagline: Shiny, Happy Tech News. Updated: Just about daily. Another vidcast I’ve been following recently is GeekBrief. The vidcast’s title pretty much nails it on the head - there is some serious geek gadget stuff going on here and Cali knows more about tech toys and tools than I’ll ever know. She’s great during interviews and seems to introduce me to some cool new tech gadget with every new vidcast. With more than one year of episodes under her belt, and ranked as one of the most popular vidcasts over at Digg Podcasts she seems to be the leader female voice in the tech toys arena. Side note: Where are we going with this podcast/vidcast thing? Digg’s podcast directory lists vidcasts, and also podcasts. Are they one in the same? Is seperating them just more discruption than good? Anyway, if you’re into gadgets and cool tech toys then you best subscribe to this vidcast. |
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Site: CommandN.TV Tagline: Tech, Web, News, Video Updated: Weekly. We interviewed CommandN.TV a few months back. Jeff, Amber and the commandN team have nailed down the multi-segment format to perfection. The episodes seem to just roll right right through now without glitch and transition seemlessly between headlines, techtips, webpicks, viewer mail, interviews etc. Each week’s episode is filmed at a different location, making each episode fresh and giving it that little extra “local” feel. If you’re a web geek, a gadget nut, a gamer, or just like to keep up-to-date with tech news then commandN is really one of the best resources out there. They too are also one of the most popular vidcasts over at digg’s Podcast directory. Keep up the great work. |
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Site: The 9 Tagline: The 9 on Yahoo! Updated: Daily. The 9 over at Yahoo! is love/hate for me. I don’t watch it every day but I’ll check in every once in awhile to maybe find something new. Essentially it’s a Top 9 link roundup delivered to you daily by Maria Sansone. What’s cool is that the links they feature are all submitted by users. The 9’s staff crunches the numbers and reviews all suggested links before putting together the next day’s show. For a show that provides a daily link roundup (which doesn’t sound too exciting) Sansone does a super job at keeping the mood upbeat and entertaining. |
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Site: The Show with ZeFfrank Mascot: yellow duckies Updated: Daily, until March. Wait, Zefrank isn’t a leading lady. Or is he? JK. Anyway, he’s damn funny and funny doesn’t come easy (as you can tell from my previous feeble attempt). Valleywag recently named him as one of the 12 funniest people online. I think there will be many people upset if he really does leave us in March, after this one year project of his ends. Maybe his viewers can convince him to stick around a little bit longer. Vive la Ze! |