The live web, what a concept

[by Todd] I absolutely love this line from Newsweek's April 3rd cover story -- The live web.

What makes the Web alive is, quite simply, us. Our presence, most often conducted at the speed of broadband, is constant and mandatory.

Thanks to our activity, the Web has replaced phone books, and is in the process of replacing phones. It's the place that answers our questions in four tenths of a second and ships us funny clips that mix the "Back to the Future" guys with the "Brokeback Mountain" soundtrack. It's the main news source for the non-arthritic population, and a megaphone for those who make their own media.

Want an example? YouTube has emerged from nowhere to be an industry titan, with more reach than The New York Times web site according to Ben's all-too geeky analysis. Where else do you find a network that posts 35,000 new videos a day with 30 million page views. The old-world thinking was that you had to have someone priorities and categorize all that content.

But YouTube lets everyone categorize the content. Find something cool? Post on your site, they give you the tools. Can you imagine CNN letting anyone grab any video from their archive and post it elsewhere?

Which brings me to the flurry of coverage over Chevy's Tahoe ads, a tie-in to The Apprentice. Using simple technology they let visitors sequence video clips, lay down a music bed and create their own text to be superimposed. Horror of horrors internet gadflys and social activists used the platform to make protest ads and just obscene commercials. Stories here, here and here, just to get your started.

But, to Chevy's immense credit, and too I suspect their agency, Campbell-Ewald's credit, the auto maker is standing tall and leaving most of the non-obscene ads up.

"We anticipated that there would be critical submissions," a spokeswoman told The New York Times. "You do turn over your brand to the public, and we knew that we were going to get some bad with the good. But it's part of playing in this space."

As a result Chevy is getting more publicity than their money could have ever bought. Articles in every major publication and more than 300 blog articles according to Technorati. Somewhere in the 2.9 million page views and 40,000 forward-to-a-friend emails, you can be sure are people who will remember Chevy Tahoe when it comes time to buy. It doesn't take many for the campaign to pay off.

Here's a quick link to get you started surfing.

-Posted by Todd

Comments

[Jake]

I think this article was absolutely terrific. Well done, and good for newbies. We can use this for clients and parents to help explain what we actually do!

[Ben McConnell]

i wasn't wearing my x-ray glasses when I did my analysis. That would have made it truly geeky.