Oddly Together

While checking RSS feeds yesterday, I came across one of John Gruber’s many cuss posts. By cuss post I don’t mean bad language but his cussing out something or someone, often with one word and link to source. John used “What a turd” to describe a video comparing Nokia’s N97 promo video against supposedly real world experience (Post title: “Nokia N97 Promotional Video vs Real Life”).

About an hour after seeing John’s post, Betanews founder Nate Mook IMed a link. Someone had IMed a link to him. The video has started to spread across the Web. A search for the video’s title, “Nokia N97: The Truth,” conducted this afternoon brings up more than 40 entries just within the last 15 hours—before appearing links to other stuff. But by quick scan, I’d guess the number of links to the video is quadruple that. When I accessed the video at 2:26 pm PDT today, there were 58,001 views. Right before I posted, the number had jumped to 61,360 (but slowing from yesterday).

The video has gone viral, but it’s strange timing. Why? The video isn’t the least new. YouTube user “nokiatruth” has posted just this one video, and that was on Sept. 5, 2009. Not yesterday, but nearly seven months ago.

The video’s sudden viral spread follows a concept I introduce here for the first time but will make an ongoing topic at Oddly Together: “Mob Journalism.” It’s news generated by the mob, or crowd (not the Mafia). The mob gets ahold of something one of its members deems interesting and widely spreads it. I’ll explain the cultural, sociological and psychological aspects in my first full post on the topic. But suffice to say somebody spreading this stuff searches for acceptance, recognition or money.

There’s a different quality to Mob Journalism—a unified sense of rightness, but not always by everyone, about what’s shared. In this one example, most of the linkers to the video share John Gruber’s disdain. The chain of spreading connections highly influences opinion. Of course, most of the people ridiculing the Nokia N97 has never used one.

I IMed Nate yesterday about the video: “I owned a N97 and that wasn’t my experience. Sure the Nokia promo was exaggerated, but I found the phone plenty speedy. If I hadn’t switched from AT&T, I would still use the N97. Sure, it’s no iPhone.” There are plenty of positive reviews about the N97, and negative ones, too, of course.

Just because many people agree on something doesn’t it true or news. Mob Journalism is where the crowd rules the news. 

Do you have a social media or mob journalism story that you’d like told? Please email Joe Wilcox: oddlytogether at gmail dot com.

My daughter offers her first product review for this Weblog—a teen’s perspective on the Nokia E71, with some criticism of the iPhone. Timing is perhaps appropriate, or not. Today, Nokia formally announced the E72, which packs a 5-megapixel camera; the E71 has a 3.2MP digicam. TheiPhone 3GS goes on sale June 19. Yeah, on Friday.

My daughter recorded the vlog more than a week ago—at about 1 a.m., and it shows. This vlog was the second take. The original video was livelier, but she misidentified the handset as the N71. I decided to use the second take as is, rather than splicing new intro onto the first version.

I ask everyone to pardon the arguably technically rough cut. My daughter recently switched from a MacBook to the lovely—and pink—Sony VAIO VGN-SR290JTJ (13.3-inch LED display, 1280 x 800 resolution; 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 3MB cache; 1066MHz front-side bus; 3GB DDR2 memory; 256MB DDR3 dedicated ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470 graphics; 320GB 5400rpm hard drive; DVD burner; 1.3MP WebCAM; 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless; Windows 7 Ultimate RC). The WebCam apparently comes preset to “fine” rather than high quality. The difference is 15fps instead of 30fps. My daughter recorded at the lower setting, and it shows.

I used Corel VideoStudio X2 to convert the vlog from WMA to MPEG4. But I did no other editing, which the video needs at over 7 minutes long. But I’m struggling to find really remarkable video-editing software for Windows. Apple’s iLife `09, which my daughter used before switching to the Sony VAIO, packs in lots of fun features. Can somebody show me something as good for Windows? I haven’t found it. If you sell it, please contact me for review purposes. I’m motivated to show that people can produce quick, fun and professional videos on Windows, too.

My daughter goes by handle “Morripopp” on YouTube, where she has, as of this posting, more than 6,000 subscribers. There, she vlogs mostly about makeup. I invited her here in part because she’s my daughter, but more because she’s videogenic, articulate and offers a teen’s perspective. Many high-tech companies selling consumer goods need to listen more to the teen perspective. Even for their non-consumer goods.

Consider the E71 my daughter uses. Nokia markets the phone for business users, not consumers. Yet, Morripopp chose this phone over iPhone or several other more consumer-friendly smartphones. She likes the color, the design, reflective back for checking her makeup and, most importantly, the keyboard for texting and instant messaging. In the first take of the vlog, she also praised the running of background apps, such as AIM, which she couldn’t do on iPhone.

The E71 doesn’t pack a truly consumer-friendly user interface. It’s quite boring actually. Yet here we have a video of a teen choosing the smartphone over iPhone. Expect more of these vlog reviews, with my daughter and eventually other teens. To these younger users, technology is oxygen. You old farts (I refuse to call myself one, yet) can’t consume all the oxygen that these Millennials—NetGeners, if you prefer—so naturally breathe.

I heard that Windows Oxygen was one of the finalists before Windows XP. O2 is technology that Millennials breathe.

Do you have a smartphone story that you’d like told? Please email Joe Wilcox: oddlytogether at gmail dot com.

Best. Marketing Campaign. Ever. Jealous Computers. They hate being replaced by the Nokia N95.

Nokia shot the video(s) using the N95.

Do you have a Nokia or smartphone story that you’d like told? Please email Joe Wilcox: oddlytogether at gmail dot com.