Vid chats poll
Aug. 29th, 2009 02:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bop_radarI have had Many Thoughts since posting about vidding fandom. One main one has to do with vidding chats.
For those new friends who may not know, I ran a series of chats about vidding in my journal. A bit of history about them: vidding chats began because I wanted to talk to other people about things to do with vidding (pretty simple!) and because I'd recently realised a few other friends wanted to too. We originally polled for interest on them here. Once they got started, I personally underestimated the interest from a wider group but it was really cool to have people from different backgrounds and experience levels pop up and share their thoughts. I tried hard to make the chats welcoming and inclusive, but I'm also aware that my own biases (including a propensity to crap on!) came through. And I became more self-conscious over time about the limitations of me being the OP. I'd always hoped people would talk to each other as well as to me, and this did happen a bit but there was still definitely an extent to which it felt like I and other people were commenting into a vacuum. Also, there were many great suggestions for topics but I didn't always feel I would be the best person to host them. For instance, some people wanted more of a focus on newbie issues, but I can't get around the fact that after three years of vidding I'm not really a newbie any more. And some people wanted more technical or high-level (for want of a better word) discussions and I thought 'ohhh, that would be cool! I'd love that too!' but wondered how to host them because I wouldn't necessarily have much to contribute to a discussion myself. Of course, I could have hosted both (and sort of did) by being honest about the perspective I was speaking from and encouraging others to share their thoughts.
The other issue was simply a time one: I got very busy at work and still am. Some momentum with them was lost. So... I've been wondering for some time whether vid chats should have their own community. And following recent discussion, that seems even more desireable to me. So that they can be seen to belong to the wider community, so that they seem more welcoming because it's not just one person hosting and so that there can be more chats covering more areas.
Of course, I have no idea if other people agree! And it would totally depend on whether there's enough interest and whether other people would be willing to host chats some time. Personally I feel there would have to be other moderators of such a comm, other than me. While I can't imagine never hosting one again myself, I think it'd be really important to have people from a range of backgrounds and experience levels host. I'd absolutely love feedback on this. So! Poll.
[Poll #1450417]
Please feel free to comment with any other thoughts!
For those new friends who may not know, I ran a series of chats about vidding in my journal. A bit of history about them: vidding chats began because I wanted to talk to other people about things to do with vidding (pretty simple!) and because I'd recently realised a few other friends wanted to too. We originally polled for interest on them here. Once they got started, I personally underestimated the interest from a wider group but it was really cool to have people from different backgrounds and experience levels pop up and share their thoughts. I tried hard to make the chats welcoming and inclusive, but I'm also aware that my own biases (including a propensity to crap on!) came through. And I became more self-conscious over time about the limitations of me being the OP. I'd always hoped people would talk to each other as well as to me, and this did happen a bit but there was still definitely an extent to which it felt like I and other people were commenting into a vacuum. Also, there were many great suggestions for topics but I didn't always feel I would be the best person to host them. For instance, some people wanted more of a focus on newbie issues, but I can't get around the fact that after three years of vidding I'm not really a newbie any more. And some people wanted more technical or high-level (for want of a better word) discussions and I thought 'ohhh, that would be cool! I'd love that too!' but wondered how to host them because I wouldn't necessarily have much to contribute to a discussion myself. Of course, I could have hosted both (and sort of did) by being honest about the perspective I was speaking from and encouraging others to share their thoughts.
The other issue was simply a time one: I got very busy at work and still am. Some momentum with them was lost. So... I've been wondering for some time whether vid chats should have their own community. And following recent discussion, that seems even more desireable to me. So that they can be seen to belong to the wider community, so that they seem more welcoming because it's not just one person hosting and so that there can be more chats covering more areas.
Of course, I have no idea if other people agree! And it would totally depend on whether there's enough interest and whether other people would be willing to host chats some time. Personally I feel there would have to be other moderators of such a comm, other than me. While I can't imagine never hosting one again myself, I think it'd be really important to have people from a range of backgrounds and experience levels host. I'd absolutely love feedback on this. So! Poll.
[Poll #1450417]
Please feel free to comment with any other thoughts!
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no subject
Date: 2009-09-03 01:31 am (UTC)Among the posts on inclusiveness, you brought up the idea of a comm for casual vid talk. I’d love to see a place for that, whether on a vid chats comm, between the “serious” modded discussions or in its own comm. Technically, the vidding lj comm is open to all things vidding but in practice it’s mostly vid announcements and I’d be uncomfortable posting any casual “let’s talk vidding!” comments there.
I hope my “worst thing about vid chats” answer didn’t come across as snarky. I loved the chats and even though I only found out about them toward the end, I enjoyed reading through the older ones. I want to expand on the answer I gave because the need for speedy replies that is standard on the net has been one of the biggest barriers for me. When I see a discussion I want to be part of, I like to turn the issues over in my mind for a few days, mentally crafting a response piecemeal. When I do start to write, I write slowly. When I find a post I want to comment on, assuming the post isn’t already too old, the pressure to think, compose, and post my say in the two day window amidst work, vidding, and annoying real life stuff, takes the enjoyment out of it. I would like to see chat topics open and alive for at least two weeks. I think this issue is related to what you said about commenting into a vacuum. I don’t know how it would be accomplished but if the emphasis were on a dialogue, there wouldn’t be the pressure to get all your thoughts out in one big-ass comment.
For vidding chats, I’d like to see intermediate stuff. And I do think the previous chats addressed intermediates (as well as vid-fans at all other levels, which is why I liked them). I want something for vidders who have graduated from WMM and are trying to find their way around Premiere. Something for vidders who have read all the newbie guides, know the deadly sins of talky face, white flashes, and spuffy, and want to take the next step. Good vidding is more than the absence of pet peeve-y mistakes! This ties into the inclusiveness conversation: maybe a reason so many vidders consider themselves newbies is the only other “class” is deified big name vidder.
I’d also like a chat or guide on Avisynth. The otherwise awesome amv tech guide assumes a knowledge of finding, installing, and tweaking aviscripts that I’ve been struggling to obtain.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-03 04:48 am (UTC)I hope my “worst thing about vid chats” answer didn’t come across as snarky.
Not at all! I have that issue all the time. Personally, for the record, I am always happy to have 'late' participation. I think I could include that in a list of guidelines and it would be good to encourage people to pop back to them later, after a few days. Hmm.
omething for vidders who have read all the newbie guides, know the deadly sins of talky face, white flashes, and spuffy, and want to take the next step
That sounds like ME! And omg, yes, to the 'class' thing. Intermediate vidders unite! I have been flailing around in the 'out of newbie but still can't do much tech' stage for soooo long and it's really frustrating.
I'm no good on Avisynth as I'm a Mac vidder, but I am sure there are people out there who could host an Avisynth chat.
I'm going to put up a post calling for specific topics shortly and we'll see how it goes... :)