Who needs audition calls in malls when you’ve got YouTube?
CBC Television is turning to the popular video sharing site, owned by Google, to recruit young candidates for the upcoming season of Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister.
In fact, it’s the only way people can apply.
Last year’s show attracted close to a million viewers and the four finalists shared the stage with former Canadian prime ministers.
Random trivia: The show is based on a popular nationwide competition originated in 1995 by Frank Stronach, father of Liberal MP Belinda Stronach.
The YouTube site is at http://youtube.com/nextprimeminister
What do you think? Is using YouTube for audition submissions a good way to experiment with social media? Or does it discourage participation from those without a computer?
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I think that this is a fantastic enterprise and worthy of support and acclaim. Look no further than CNN’s uber-successful partnership with YouTube for both the Democratic and Republican nomination debates as an example of how readily and capably citizens respond.
While certainly there are compelling discussions surrounding the hegemony of technology in the wider world; in this case it strikes me as a perfectly appropriate (one might go so far as to suggest, incumbent) way for the CBC to reach out to young, connected Canadians. It is clear this generation has had little trouble adopting, even championing, emerging platforms as a preferred social medium to share their stories, tastes and experiences. Kudos to the CBC and the producers of Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister for engaging this demographic in such a forward-thinking way.
Last time they wanted a vhs tape. Which is more accessible these days? YouTube, by far.
Wonderful. Before I talk about a potential way to make the process even better, let me say it is a great way to use YouTube to get audition submissions. You see, the previous barrier to entry one way was a camcorder to video tape yourself. I think the 18 - 25 crowd (contestant age requirement) will more likely have access to a computer with a webcam.
IMHO to truly use YouTube effectively as a social media tool and better promote and create some good vibe for the TV show, the following instruction to the applicants need to be slightly changed. Here is an excerpt from the current instruction,
“Simply create a YouTube account (if you don’t already have one), upload your video, then send us a message (link below) and attach your video. We’ll add it to the mix for all the world to see and debate your ONE GREAT IDEA.”
Here is my suggested change (enclosed in ***)
“Simply create a YouTube account (if you don’t already have one), upload your video *** and tagging it with 2007CanadasNextPM ***, then send us a message (link below) and attach your video. …”
You see, the socially more engaging and Web 2.0 way is to have all these submissions videos tagged in a common way. Why? So that we the audiences (and even the contestants themselves) can easily find and view the submitted auditions. This is way more fun and I like the energy can be generated in this little community (once they are tagged and grouped).
I think tools like YouTube can give us so much more than just a replacement for VHS tapes and stamps.