San Francisco based Justin.tv takes the concept of “personal space†and registers as an 8.0 quaking on the tech social scene.
Launched today, March 19, 2007, the crew at Justin.tv, led by Justin Kan, has been Flash-casting life in San Francisco from the hat-brim viewpoint on Justins head. In effect Justin is directly streaming his life, within a 100 yard viewpoint, to the entire world.
The concept is part The Tuman Show, part 24, part Jennicam. Real time Flash-casting video and audio mashed on-site with forums, site-based chat and a smattering of post web 1.0 functionality is EXTREMELY addicting. The live life show that is Justin.tv even allows live phone calls and text messaging directly to the cast and star.
Fraught with a few problems from their text message supplier as the show initiated itself this morning, the team persevered and I believe they might just have a huge hit on it’s hands.
You can test the live video feed below, but be warned that the entertainment value at any given time varies widely.
The show is a huge experiment, most directly for Justin and his crew, Emmett, Michael and Kyle. The team has discovered a number of things they need to consider in future days due to the live, un-cut, un-edited nature of the content they are creating. For example, Justin half-jokes upon the realization … “I’m destroying the privacy of everyone around me.”
The crew had an interesting day, starting off by taking Justin to get a new wardrobe in Hayes Valley. After that, off to get lunch conversation, then continuing on to a series of meetings with some startup friends in the San Francisco area. I can see that this type of coverage will help local retailers, startups and other businesses to gain notoriety, possibly creating revenue opportunities. Also the inside view of local startups could be quite intriguing for certain crowds in the larger world.
While the first part of the day was interesting, what occurred later in the day exposed some roadbumps. Once the show was discovered by more Internetizens, the live interaction between crew, star and audience became a curious display of what occurs when the largest crowd on the world finds a new toy. Initially people from all over the world were calling Justin to give “shouts out” to friends, declare their infatuation, give congratulations and even to prove to their spouses that the show really was live.
Caller: “I want to prove to my wife that you are live on the Internet.â€
Justin and Crew: “Is that Imenla, Imelada, Imelda†“Hi Emelda, thanks for watching†Says Justin…
But by midday the text message system was saturated with automated messages and the direct phone calls to Justin became annoyingly more robotic over the next 6 hours, gradually getting to a point of saturation. Undoubtedly the team will overcome these troubles, but the interesting social experiment was how far some people go to hack at a new idea.
Overall Justin.tv is a fantastic new concept for “personal space” re-creation. If you are in the world, the world is viewing you. Whatever type of personal change Justin needs to undergo in order to adjust to living 24×7 on the web, that will be the truest social experiment in this latest wave of innovation.
The bar has just been raised.
Makes you want to know why it is they are compelled to be live 24×7. Is it the money? Is it the need for attention? . Don’t they want a real life where they don’t have to deal with strangers who are infactuated and annoyingly watching their every move. Obviously this type of lifestyle doesn’t appeal to me. I am happy to curl up on the couch and read a book and not worry about anyone watching me.