Video on the Internet - The next Communication Revolution

Streaming Video is the future of the Internet. 'Uses of Digital Media', a report by Aberdeen/StreamingMedia.com, found that in the United States of America $2 billion was being spent on streaming media technologies, and is projected to grow to in excess of $12 billion per annum over the next few years.

Today the Internet is the fastest growing marketplace and offers global opportunities to all, from international conglomerates to the individual person at the kitchen table. What though is the most effective form of communication on the information super highway? The Internet has become the place to communicate with one another and the means to search for and locate information. Video streaming brings a whole new dimension to this experience for everyone, be they business persons negotiating a deal, friends and family keeping in touch with their loved ones, or people sharing a common interest seeing one another for the first time.

For communication to be of use, it must be effective. People are expounding vast amounts of time, effort and money to communicate effectively on the Internet. Studies have shown that using video on the Internet gets people's attention and increases the likelihood that the message will be remembered.

Humans remember:

10% of what they read,
30% of what they see,
50% of what they see and hear together,
And 80% of what they see, hear and do.
(Source: Dr. Mehrabians, Study of Communication.)

This should have a significant impact on how one uses the Internet as a means of communication. Email changed the Internet, but video is changing the World. Email has become the fastest growing form of communication. Every day billions of emails are sent and received and the number continues to grow, (even allowing for the known problems of Spam, viruses etc.) some analysts are predicting that the number of messages will ultimately grow to as many as 100 billion a day! This may sound great, but if one remembers that to be of use communication has to be effective, clearly definite strategies will have to be developed to achieve this aim of successful communication.

The three major problems that have to be considered are:

"How do you make your message 'stand out from the crowd'?"
"How do you ensure uniformity of message (so everyone sees and hears the same message?"
And "How do you try to ensure your message is not confused and misunderstood?"

Some people have started to include pictures and images to help convey the meaning and to add impact, but that still doesn't solve the problem! This is because we are used to 'face to face' communication, where the message is interpreted not only from the spoken word but also the non-verbal communication. 55% of a messages meaning is derived from facial expression and 38% is derived from gestures, body language etc.

So what is the solution? People online need fully integrated video streaming facilities for their online communication and this technology is available now, ranging from Video Email, Video Instant Messaging and even live Webcasting and Streaming Web TV. Streaming Video is the online future, and now is the time to place ones self at the forefront of this next communication revolution.