Brendan Gahan is the Director of Social Media at Mekanism, you can follow him on twitter at @brendangahan
Last year, I outlined my top 5 predictions for online video in 2012. While not everything I outlined was spot on, I think that that I was certainly on the right track.
This year, I anticipate 3 more things that we’ll be seeing more of in online video for 2013.
1. This Will Be the Year “Subscribe” Will Become the New “Like”
As video production costs continue to decline and with YouTube’s continued emphasis on channels, it’s safe to assume that brands will look to invest in ongoing content and engagement on their channels to promote more than just “views” with advertisers. Furthermore, the site has also begun to crack down on inflated subscriber numbers. These could very well be indicators of YouTube looking to get into the business of selling subscribers to branded accounts, much in the same way Facebook promotes “likes” for brand pages. As more and more companies invest in video, it makes sense that they’d want to invest in an evergreen community which they can use to continue to promote content.
2. VidCon Will Become the Next SXSW
SXSW has become a mecca of digital culture — the conference that everyone working in the digital space must go to for the parties, connections, panels, celebrities, brand sponsorships, etc.
This past year, we saw VidCon grow at a monumental rate — growing 3x what it was in 2012. With that kind of momentum and the growth of the online video space, its clear that VidCon is on track to become the next SXSW.
3. YouTube Networks Will Consolidate.
As YouTube networks get rounds and rounds of funding, they’ll be looking to grow their numbers quickly by acquiring smaller networks and scooping up more and more of the independent YouTubers. Despite all the recent controversy surrounding many networks, the reality is that they’re going to be around a while. They’ve got the cash and investment to continue to grow and build out their audience, and advertisers are eager to spend the money.
[…] For all of you who don’t know how facebook works. Basically its like email… recently I learned though…. it is all public. News to me. What happened was a friend sent me this article – forbes’ “30 under 30″ – and I sent a response to him saying “NICE!” and then all of a sudden a bunch of people were responding to what I had thought was an “email”… Now I know that they’re called “posts” and “likes” and that people will start “subscribing” to things instead of liking them… I learned that point later when my friend posted this article. […]