The video response feature lets you reply, or talk back, to a video. Someone may post a video that you want to strongly support or that you strongly oppose. Someone may post a video that asks viewers a question or wants your opinion on a certain topic. You may just want to parody a video. These are all great opportunities to post video responses.
To post a video response, click the link Post a Video Response, located just below every video.
You can post video responses (Figure 8-1) in one of three ways:
Record a video: If you have a webcam or your FireWire miniDV cam connected to your computer, you can record a video directly to YouTube's servers with this function. The video will be recorded in a low resolution (to conserve bandwidth and server space), but the quality will be acceptable for a simple video response. This is the most immediate and very likely the most honest way to respond to a video—in the moment.
Choose a video: If you have previously uploaded a relevant video, you can simply choose it from a drop-down list (Figure 8-2). This is also convenient for recycling relevant video responses, something I will talk about later in this chapter.
Upload a video: If you've recorded a video response but haven't uploaded it yet, you would choose the third option, Upload a Video (Figure 8-3). From here, you upload your video the same as you would upload any other video you've created. (This is probably a better option than directly capturing your video if you prefer better video resolution and the ability to edit over the immediacy of quickly "just getting your answer out there.")
The majority of the early vloggers who found fame on YouTube did so by responding to other videos. Because your video response's thumbnail appears directly below the video you're responding to, as viewers watch the original video, they are likely to see, and click, your video. This is a great way to get involved and interact with the community. Video responses are a step up from text comments. You can express full thoughts without being restricted to a 500-character cutoff, your tone of voice and inflection show through, and more viewers are willing to watch video responses than they are to read someone's entire comment section.
Videos get few opportunities at being fresh again. Most videos reach their peak of views and comments within 48 hours of being uploaded. However, by reposting relevant videos as responses to new popular videos, your older videos get a second chance at views and discussion. I call this recycling.
For instance, if three months ago you posted a video retelling your own favorite childhood memory in response to someone's best childhood memory, that same video would be appropriate to repost now on a new video discussing favorite memories or memories of grade school.
By utilizing the Choose a Video option, you can leave any of your past videos as a response to any other video on YouTube. Like any other function of YouTube, this function can be abused. For instance, when a new video is featured on the front page, hundreds of people looking for views post their videos as responses, hoping for some of the spillover views from the featured video. I don't recommend doing this unless your video really is relevant to the newly featured video. This practice will only annoy the original poster and those who are leaving relevant responses if you end up leaving numerous unrelated responses looking to gain a few extra views.
To help combat the behavior of people spamming your video response section with unrelated videos, YouTube lets you turn off automatic video responses. Selecting the Manual option lets you approve which videos will be posted as a response and which will be rejected. You can change this setting at any time for any video by editing the video info. Under Sharing Options (Figure 8-4), choose "Yes, allow video responses after I approve them."
Similar to any MySpace, LiveJournal, or Blogger meme that we've all, at one time or another, participated in, YouTube has its own unique tag game: the video response meme. Some memes come in the form of a survey, with a standard set of questions for you to answer and then pass on; others involve you stating "50 things" about yourself or involve "nude vlogging" or any other random qualification. Each meme video ends with you tagging a number of other YouTubers who then have to continue the cycle.
Note
An Internet meme is any picture, video, survey, or website that gets passed around via email, forums, and social networking sites like YouTube and MySpace or any other means of online communication. Memes are often offbeat and funny, and they reference current pop culture.
The most popular video response meme to date has been the Vlog Tag Game, www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzIMbjA5m8s, (URL 8.1), started by YouTuber nerimon (Figure 8-5). The Vlog Tag Game requires each user to state five facts about themselves that their viewers may not already know and then tag five other users to do the same, asking those five users to leave their videos as responses. nerimon wanted to see how long each chain he began would continue before being broken by someone who received no video responses. The game grew at such a rate that YouTube featured nerimon's initial video on the front page and encouraged all YouTubers to play along.
This game has many other incarnations, and new ones pop up every day. They can be a lot of fun to participate in, and even more fun to start. If you find an older video of a meme you'd like to answer, don't wait to be tagged; make a video response, and start the game over again, tagging five of your own viewers to continue it.