BubbleTweets Destined for Prolonged Novelty Status

0 Comment(s) | Posted Sep 29, 2009 by Pat Morrell

Patrick Morrell

Bubbletweets: essentially video tweets – all you need is a Twitter account and a webcam or prerecorded video and you can broadcast yourself in 30 second bursts.

My first exposure to this was seeing my boys Tony Kornheiser (is it bad that a 60+ sportswriter scooped me on a social media tool?) and Tony Reali of ESPN fame bubbletweeting teasers for PTI and Around the Horn.  Their videos were great, and gave glimpse into unscripted and behind-the-scenes moments.

Based on y prodding, we decided that Three Ships Media had to give it a go.  Last Friday was the trial run.  We had to do a couple takes, and then my camera-shy coworkers ducked out of my “executive suite” (cubicle with a view… of another cubicle) and I carried on the performance with Shakespearean eloquence. (See: “First attempt at the BubbleTweet… Sense of vanity compels me to believe it is awesome –> http://bbltwt.com/558m7”)

I’ve done several others so far, and while it’s a fun break every once and awhile – and a great way to let folks know there’s a pulse behind those tweets – I don’t envision Bubbletweets catching on in grand fashion.

The utility and brevity inherent to Twitter is the crux of its appeal – the ability to get on, send a message, and log off within roughly 20 seconds is crucial, as is the ability to breeze through scores of messages in a comparable amount of time.

Twitter’s genius is its low demands on time and energy.  Therein lays Bubbletweets flaws (relatively speaking).  While it practically takes just a few minutes to record or watch a bubbletweet, in Twitter time (a concept we’ll refer to often in this blog), bubbletweeting takes an eternity.  Furthermore, it commands the viewer’s complete attention; instead of being able to scroll dozens of messages, I’m locked in for a 30 second video.  Compelling as the bubbletweet may be, it stands in the way of the reason I logged on Twitter i.e. to see what Mashable just said.

Long story short: love the Bubbletweet and will still use it (though sparingly); but don’t ever see if growing beyond novelty status, or becoming nearly as popular as other Tweet aggregators and tools.

Filed under: Emerging Media, Twitter-related