SOMETIMES, VIDEO IS HOW WE FIND EACH OTHER.
Something happened in the MTDV community during this past week. Two people started making videos in response to each other’s videos. It sounds like such a small thing, but I thought it was awesome, and it made me smile.
Most of the time we think about video as broadcasting. You make something, put it out into the world, and other people watch it. It’s very much a Creator - Audience dynamic. But watching these two people reminded me that video can also be a way of building rapport.
Someone makes something. It gives another person an idea, or makes them think, or makes them want to respond. So, they pick up their own camera and make something. Then the first person responds again.
Suddenly, the camera isn’t just a tool for creating content or sharing your life, thoughts, hobbies, or business operations. It’s the thing allowing two people to communicate creatively. And they can be hundreds of miles apart. They might never have met without the internet. They might have completely different lives, but now there’s this little exchange happening between them because one person made something and another person decided to answer by making something too.
I think that’s one of the things I’m beginning to appreciate about building MTDV. Obviously I want people to make videos, that’s the entire point. So much joy comes from making videos. But I don’t want it to become a room full of people completing video prompts and disappearing again. That’s not a community.
I want people to notice each other, feel inspired by each other, to see something somebody else made and think, “Oh, now I want to try something.” To have creative conversations, to form friendships, to feel like there are other people out there who care about this stuff too.
There’s so much emphasis online on audience size, views, followers and reach. But sometimes, maybe making a video doesn't have to be about reaching thousands of people. Maybe it reaches one person, they make something back, and a friendship forms.
From the September Storytelling Challenge
