Article by Joanne Smithers
Social networking sites continue to evolve and change, offering an ever-increasing array of services and options for updating your status. Most recently, Keek has been released. Instead of updating status updates via text, you can upload directly with video in short form. Through Keek, users can share video status updates instantly using their mobile device or webcam.
Up to as much as 36 seconds of video can be recorded. Known as ‘keeks’, the video-based updates allow users to provide friends and family with a quick look into their current status. Keeks can be recorded and sent in less than a minute. Compared to the somewhat more traditional photo sharing and microblogging services, Keek offers the opportunity to microvideo dialogue in a way that is more fun and informative.
In many ways, Keek combines the best features of a number of social media sites. For instance, similar to Twitter, Keek allows users to follow one another. Keek has also taken a few tips from other sites by featuring the most popular and latest keeks on the network, making them easily accessible and viewable.
The service is already catching on across North America as well as elsewhere in the world as users have begun to use the service to microvlog travel experiences, concerts, parties and more. While Keek certainly has a strong lead out of the entry gate, developers are already promising that even more new features are on the way. In October, 2011Keek announced they had secured $ 5.5 million in funding from an investors group. The funding will go toward rolling out new features even more quickly, strengthening the team and accelerating expansion on a global level.
Statistics indicate that video sharing is rapidly on the rise, with a whopping 92% of Generation Y using it and 80% of Generation X using video sharing as a way of sharing and keeping in touch. Even Boomers are jumping on the bandwagon, with 54% video sharing, according to a study released by Pew Research Center. It is anticipated that usage will continue to grow by leaps and bounds as people look for continuously more interactive services and tools to make sharing via video even easier. Currently, the app is available for Android or iOS and is completely free.
The benefits of video sharing appear to be far ranging. Young people use the video for communicating with each other, not only for entertainment. With Keek, users are able to share videos and connect to others in a very efficient way. While Keek is not the first microvideo sharing website, the difference between Keek and other similar sites seems to lie in the fact that Keek is emphasizing the micro element of microblogging. Many other videos have lower time constraints, such as 10 seconds and some even much longer (at 2.5 minutes). They discovered this number because it’s the magic number for this type of a product.
Don’t hesitate to check out Keek.
Good tips! I have already been hunting for something such as this for quite a while now. Appreciation!