We first met the founders of Howcast.com at the State Department’s Alliance of Youth Movements Summit. They were there to film some “how-to” guides for people interested in using social media to foster movements for human rights. Since then I’ve been peeking in from time to time on their work and getting increasingly more impressed with how they’re navigating the new world of online video information sourcing. While a lot of the content on the site is generated by and for users (who earn reputation points by how others rate the quality of their offerings), Howcast is modeling a viderate style that is well worth studying. Advocacy groups of all stripes should take a look.
For example, take a look at this new video on “How to understand the federal stimulus package.”
And here’s a video on how to create a grassroots movement using social network sites.
And here’s a whole playlist on “navigating tough economic times.”
Those of us who view the world thru a cynical lens might find Howcast’s straightforward, non-ironic tone a little, shall we say, innocent, the fact is Howcast is developing a smart vernacular for a growing segment of online communications, the “how-to” video. What these videos have in common are a visual vocabulary of pointers and symbols that effectively convey information, a no-nonsense plotting that breaks down the process in clear steps, and very smart search optimization. If you’re someone searching for info on how to build a grassroots movement using online social networks, Howcast’s video is likely to show up very high on a Google search. Same with the topic of understanding the federal stimulus package–Howcast’s video is #3 in search results.
Given how well Howcast is doing, both in making clear video presentations and in getting them noticed by Google, if you’re an advocacy group looking to push your agenda by video, before making your own (expensive) how to video, you might want to go search Howcast’s database and see if they’ve gotten there first.