Video Blog = “vlog” or video webcasting for the rest of us

As someone who has been writing about and even producing videos about the democratization of media and the infinite possibilities for grassroots media & video for over ten years now, Apple’s new ipod combined with the blogger’s self-publishing and self-syndication platforms… not to mention podcasting… had to lead to video blogs. I was just wondering what they’d be called. Well, they’re here. They’re called “vlogs” (pronounced like “blogs” but with a “v”) and it couldn’t be anymore democratic.

For example, FreeVLog.org is brought to you by the smiling faces shown here (Ryanne Hodson & Michael Verdi). Their site has tutorials on how to distribute your personal videos (or vlog) via the Internet and Blogger etc. and even the offer of free tech support via help@freevlog.org.

Their preferred “platform” includes what claims to be the “first video aggregator… and the best place to find video made by real people,” Mefedia.

To get you into the spirit, not to mention the attitude, here’s FreeVLog.org’s definition and explanation of why you might want a vlog: “A vlog is a videoblog and you want one because, let’s face it, they’re not going to put you on TV. Besides, not playing that game is what makes this so much fun. You can do whatever you want.” Get it?

If so, you might also want to link up with vlogdir.com, a vlog log or directory; VlogMap.org, which uses Google Maps and Google Earth to display vloggers worldwide; and/or videobloggers.org, another free hosting service and vlogosphere content aggregator.