Tag Archives: vloggerheads

Vloggerheads: Country Club or Safe Haven?

Jenna Wortham writes a balanced piece about the controversial Vloggerheads.com website, spawned by Renetto (a popular YouTube creator). My previous post on Vloggerheads generated more comments than any other post I’ve written. And, for that matter, brought controversy among a tight-knit group of regular WVFF commenters that usually play off each other like a well-oiled comedy troupe. Group hug?

I hope that whether you’re annoyed by Vloggerheads, or celebrate it as a new safe-haven for a tight virtual community… that you can still appreciate the irony of this random screen shot I took this morning. This just happened to be the most recent videos posted as of 7:30 am on Saturday.

What do almost all of these guys have in common!? I know where I’d advertise if I sold hair transplants.

Now guys don’t get upset. I’ve been known to do whatever it takes to be like Renetto myself. He has that quality. Hold on a second, I have to buy a candle online. Okay I’m back.

Former Top YouTuber Leads Vlogging Revolution

Vloggerheads launchesFor months, YouTube Cewebrity Paul Robinette (Renetto) has been posting video blogs (vlogs) about his discontent on YouTube. He has criticized the site for how it handles the small but vocal video community, and has stirred up drama with the grace of an Olympic gymnist.

In the past few weeks, Robinette quietly launched Vloggerheads.com with 250 plus fellow vloggers. I previously reported that he was launching RenettoTube (see site), but apparently he had some help from branding experts.

The site, which was created using ning, is by invite only (info@renetto.com), and has already banned at least one controversial YouTube poet. The site has rules of ettiquette and is working to keep out unsavory “haters,” “trolls” and “pedophiles.” Fortunately that crowd has its own site (utubedrama.com). And don’t pretend you don’t surf for your name there weekly.

Renetto, who shaved my head years ago when I desperately wanted to be him, once topped the charts of YouTube but has fallen down the top 100 even faster than Nalts (which is rather sad given that I “jumped the shark” more than a year ago).

Renetto is loved and hated, but often the subject of discussion (see outtake clip that spoofs Renetto from a video I shot this week with YouTube Whore MrSafety). He’s best-known for his Mentos parody (nearly 10 million views) and was quoted regularly in the early media coverage of YouTube. In late 2006, Robinette rallied in support of YouTube-challenger Live Video, then changed his mind and brought about McCarthy-like challenge to those who abandoned YouTube (and took great pride in helping unravel LiveVideo). See NY Post article for more.

Vloggerheads is being listed as a “placeholder” site with larger goals. However it’s already attracting some of the YouTubers who don’t have top rankings but are staples among the inner circle of a vibrant community. My “poster child” of the online-video community (Nutcheese) is already addicted and that’s slown down her visits to Stumble! by 26%.

With just 800 videos to date and no apparent revenue model, Vloggerheads won’t soon be a threat to YouTube. But it’s an alternative virtual city where “hard core” community members are gathering, debating, communing and creating drama…

A smaller pond for those feeling lost in an increasingly commercialized YouTube?

Here’s my social commentary on vlogging. I wasn’t too sarcastic was I?

P.S. A reporter from Wired.com contacted Paul and said she heard about him from Nalts’ blog. That’s the power I have in media. Like TechCrunch I can make or break a company. Arington eat my pie hole you viralvideovillain promoter.

So You Want to Be Social-Media Cool?

I’m going to give you a free social-media makeover here, folks. I may not live in social media Heaven, but I’ve had a few “follow the bright light” moments, and have returned with some important messages from Above.

  1. First- get on Twitter. Microblogging short sentences from the web or your text-enabled phone may seem pointless, but that’s only if you haven’t learned to “follow” anyone who has a cooler life than you. Lie about what you’re doing so people don’t think you’re pathetic. I have more than 1,000 people following me, so that gives my life meaning.
  2. Now up the game with 12secondtv.com. Follow me. I’ve found I can make 12-second videos from my cell phone while driving. No pesky editing.
  3. Start ChaCha’ing instead of Googling remotely. Just text any question to 242242, and you get an instant answer. Sometimes they’re not in the mood to write back, but it’s still fun to say.
  4. Text. Seriously if you don’t text you might as well buy a Brother typewriter and get off the computer. SMS stands for short message um.. something. And then there’s MMS or something. It’s for multimedia. Just text. Or RSS.
  5. Oh, you think you’re better than me because you’ve been texting for ages? Well screw off. I Jott. You heard me. I call a toll-free number and it transcodes my speech to text for free. Jott can send my spoken words as text to wordpress or twitter or to my administrative assistant Sandy.
  6. Get iwantsandy. Have no idea what the hell Sandy does, but she’s an administrative assistant. And my real admin happens to be a woman who works in the union and also is named Sandy. She likes crystals. The electronic Sandy has a retro logo.
  7. Join vloggerheads. You need an invite, and so you’d better contact Nutcheese or someone cool. This is Renetto’s mutiny from YouTube. I showed up yesterday and it was like an insanity floor for disturbed YouTubers. They gave me some orange pills and made me right at home.
  8. Join Amazon Prime. You get free two-day shipping not to mention social status. Just drop on Twitter or Vloggerheads and say “yeah- I’m Amazon Prime.” What are you? Amazon Light? Whatever. Oh by the way- I get 12 dollars if you join from this link, and there’s a 1 month free trial. Just shut up and join.
  9. Join iamintown. Oh sorry- that’s in a special beta release. You’ll have to wait.
  10. Play with FriendFeed. Mine is kinda sparse but you can check out Steve Rubel’s (he’s the vlogger behind micropersuasion). Steve Rubel is on top of new trends even if he doesn’t link to me anymore.
  11. Watch some of the live shows on blogtv.com. I’m on Sunday nights at 9. Here’s my new account (Nalts) but 105 people are subscribed to my RealNalts account, which I had created when I couldn’t get Nalts.

That’s all you can handle right now. From your perspective, Jott will be a game changer. From my perspective, I just want you to join Amazon Prime because I’ve made about $4 in the past three months on my DVD sales, t-shirts, and stupid ads on kevinnalts.com. You don’t think I’m blogging for f’ing fun do you? Shit I need some flashy porn banners on this blog.