I’m just thinking about YouTube and the announcement that they now deliver 100 million videos a day. It makes me wonder if it will be a fad or if it will continue on in the future. Right now, the novelty of user video on the web is (in my opinion) part of what makes people drawn to it. But will it last? Will people be putting videos up on YouTube as much as they are now in a year? What about in 5 years?

And why are the majority of people doing this anyway? I know a lot of vloggers who have been doing this for a while, even before it became the thing to do, because we see something of value in creating conversations and connecting with each other. We have been struggling for a few years now to do this, and now everyone is doing it. I think many people are putting their videos up on YouTube as a networking thing. Everyone wants to have the next video that has the most comments or the most views, or the video that launches them into stardome as it goes around the world like mentos and diet coke. I’m not saying it’s a bad reason.

But what happens when people stop watching? Will the majority of people stop uploading? What will happen when the networks start uploading their shows to youtube? Will the cool factor of viral video be gone? It’s easier than ever to put video on the web. It’s easier than ever to connect with people through video, which is what we should be doing. I just hope that it’s own popularity doesn’t make it something that comes, goes, and takes with it the connections with people.