Mary Ann And Bunnyboy
From Arizona, U.S.A comes an e-mail from my friend Mary Ann telling me she's going to be on the radio. It was who inspired me to begin this blog on the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Scotland website, so of course I'm curious that she's now venturing into broadcasting. Or narrowcasting, actually.
It turns out she was making a guest apperance on the twice-weekly podcast. Now, before today, I had never heard of this show but I clicked on supplied by Mary Ann and found myself hooked for almost two hours on what sounded like a conference call between close friends. It had that kind of voyeuristic appeal. Audio blogging, if you like.
I mention this because, after more than a year of trials, the Ö÷²¥´óÐã has finally been given the go-ahead to launch a series of official podcasts. The Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio Scotland downloadable programmes will kick off at the end of July and early August and will feature highlights from our existing output.
But in the U.S., it seems, things are moving at a much faster pace with amateur podcasts being gathered and scheduled under umbrella websites and individual hosts, presenters and d.j.'s building their own fan base and cult following.
Yet for all the current buzz around user generated content and citizen journalism, the research I've seen indicates that very few people actually go to the bother of creating video or audio content.
Most prefer to watch or listen to the stuff that's put out there by other people. Those of us who merely post a comment on a blog or message board are still in the minority compared to those who simply read, view or listen.
Will that change in the future? I'd ask you to tell me, but statistics suggest that most of you wont.
But don't let that stop you!
