Taking 12Seconds.tv for a spin

The first time I saw someone using 12Seconds.tv was via Twitter. My friend Sukhjit often posted short videos of what she was eating, where she was traveling, thoughts on technology, etc. As I watched those videos, I liked that I could see her doing stuff but also that it was short and sweet. It was the perfect equivalent of a tweet in video form; not too much, just enough to get the idea.


Before speaking at the New Media: Who is Today's Modern Woman? panel a few months ago, I met with Jacob Knobel, one of the founders from 12Seconds and heard about how they came up with the idea. Launched in 2008, the micro-live video site is a side project for the founders who are based out of Santa Cruz, CA.  I wanted to try it, but thought I would have limited posts since I didn't have a mobile with video capabilities. It turns out that I was wrong! I recently started using 12Seconds and I think it is a great idea with an interesting niche. I livestream my entire 25 minute show Rad on the Web on Justin.TV and have done off-the-cuff broadcasts on UStream; both work well for long-form video. However, the timed video is a novel concept. It is also a challenge which is what gets users interested in making the video as engaging as possible in 12 seconds.
 
To use 12Seconds, you can login with either your Facebook or Twitter page which makes it easy to post to either. After hitting record, you can use your webcam [or other device] to make a quick video. There is also an upload feature if you want to share a quick snippet of digitized media you might have from your camcorder.  Once you record and post your video, you get 12Seconds Video Analytics that are relatively comprehensive. If you have no idea what to do (one of the problems I initially had) there is a daily 12Seconds Challenge that asks a new daily question like "Who is the beat member of the Beatles and why?" where a winner is selected.  The 12erator is similar and provokes a response to a simple prompt such as "My favorite beer."  The launch page can virtually replace your Twitter and Facebook interface similar to applications like Brizzly, but here, there is a great feature where you can send 12Second video Direct Messages. There are a number of badges you can unlock for posting videos with diverse topics and fist bump or comment on videos you like. Every user has a channel, and a beta feature called Rooms allows users to all comment on one platform on a certain topic moderated by one person. For example, Bill Cosby has a room where you can post questions, some that were used in a past town hall meeting. Like other social networks, there are ways to see the latest and most popular items under featured users, popular, and star your own favorites in the left side navigation.  Even though I don't use it on my mobile, there is an iPhone app available and it does work with Qik and general mobile email.

Still in beta, 12Seconds has a different purpose from Twitter or UStream and adds a different dimension to micro-blogging. I may be a little biased since I work in new media, but seeing a video of something can add a different perspective of any moment. Plus it's always nicer seeing your friends than just hearing from them, especially if it only takes 12 seconds of your time.

Comments

[Carlos]

Nice!! Cute video! I'm going to have to sock-puppet it up if I use 12second (I got 50+ RPG points in INT and WIS, but got 0 points in CHA) LOL! :-D

BTW, nice job switching to Squarespace; let me know how u like it... (I still use Dreamhost/Wordpress but the customization options are rotten!)