Shiftd

People make video popular.

The most-subscribed YouTube channel is not a channel at all, really. It’s a guy. That’s the YouTube ecosystem.

Writes Michael Humphrey in his latest Forbes piece on YouTube about their desire to shift to a more mass market audience. I found the article very interesting on a number of levels.

But I would say this shift has been in the works for quite some time. Take for example YouTube’s changes to their logo back in early 2010:

vs

“Broadcast Yourself” is gone. YouTube clearly aspired, even then, to be more than a platform for putting your own videos on the web. But this is a slippery slope. What makes YouTube great is how empowering it is as a tool for the individual. Stories about making $100,000 a year are just as viral as the videos from their creators. 

People make video popular. Not the other way around. The web is the best tool humans have ever created for broadcasting self-expression. We are building Shiftd because we believe video itself is the platform regardless of its source (YouTube, Video, ESPN, …). And that with the right tools, a personal video broadcast can be more interesting and relevant than anything you’ll find on TV - regardless of the number of channels being offered. 

Feynman’s Beauty

Richard Feynman was always one of my heroes, even before I studied in his field. His immense passion, curiosity, and intelligence was coupled with rare form of humbleness.  

The other day I found this video on Shiftd:

It’s one of the most amazing compositions I’ve ever seen. Please give yourself five minutes to watch it. 

People like Feynman inspire us to become better humans. 

Subscribe (again)

Interesting… just after we decide that “Follow” is mainstream for “Subscribe” Facebook does this:

We’ll stick to our decision for now. But personally, I’m very interested to see how this plays out…

Promote Slowness

So often we confuse speed with progress, effectiveness, and growth. But in many ways, only when we slow down, can we fully appreciate our world. 

Depth of thought is tied directly to the intensity of our attentiveness and our ability to focus. And focus is just something that requires time. 

While designing Shiftd, we are mindful of this. We can add all kinds features to help you quickly follow somebody, jump to another section, or whatnot. But we try to be very restraint. Why? Because we want you to consumed with pleasure in focused alertness.

Good video cannot be consumed casually. It requires our full concentration – just like a good meal, demands the attention of all senses by the cook and their guests.

Subscribe vs Follow

  - or - 

While working on Shiftd, we constantly struggled with terminology. Should we “subscribe” to someone, or “follow” them? Honestly we don’t like using the word “follow”. Just like we feel uncomfortable with “friending” someone through a mouse click. 

But we’ve decided to move forward with “follow” today. Why? Because it’s the norm – whether we like it or not. And our service is about shifting. We have to explain Shifting to people. That’s the only thing we want to have to explain to people.