Video Blog ; Y Do We Do It?

The beautiful thing about the internet is that, unlike Bruno Mars in The Lazy Song, you feel like doing anything. And you can. Imagine the possibilities. They are endless. If, indeed, you don’t feel like leaving your bed, you can still be in a hundred places on a hundred different tabs at once, even though that’s probably not a good idea, unless you have some sort of super giant processor.

Point is if your internet is as strong and fast  and  envelopes your whole house the way mine does, then it  reaches all over to your bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, loo (hey no judging here, Tweeting while baking a solid cake is more relaxing than going for a swim).

That is what appeals to me most, as a creative who spends most of her time online. I can be wherever I want in my how, but be able to reach to many people. The ability to spread out without having to move, or enduring the hassle of traffic that unfortunately most of you have to go through because you work in an office somewhere in Westy (and you live in Embakasi). How many people can I touch and influence? What is my online capital, measurably?

My neighbour and I recently started an online show. It’s called Y DO WE DO IT. It’s about Generation Y – the youngers who make up a majority of the Kenyan population. People who find what they are looking for on Google, what the digital generation likes to do, and what we like to talk about, their aspirations and what not. Oh, and do not think for one second that is as serious. It is skewed for fun and laughs. Topics range from the stupid things politicians say, to sexual health, and to Favourite Friday Drinks. It’s awesome. I may, of course, be biased because I am one of the presenters of the show.

We decided to take the road less travelled by many; a video blog on YouTube. Many bloggers today are more into publishing on WordPress and Blogger. We like to push the envelop. You know the first rule of creativity; you either do it first, or do it differently.

Sure, video blogging is nothing new. We did not invent it. But when you come to think of it in the Kenyan context, there are not so many people giving video blogging a shot. Mostly because of the work that it entails, and the cost. Hiring a camera is no joke. That piece of equipment drills craters into people’s wallets. Luckily enough, Onyango Ayany, my co-host, is a photographer!

You must know Onyango Ayany. We call him Onyi (pictured above). He calls himself Pikcha Guy on Instagram. He is a tall mean-looking guy with a receding hairline and he is blacker than midnight (I mean, look at him up there). He towers at over 6.2 feet, and when he sits, his stomach shows itself over his belt a little – just a little, not like a politician’s. Cool chap. He loves food, he loves making them. But if you dare put tomato sauce on his stew, he will pour you out like a drink.

However, the one thing Onyi loves more than food is his camera. You should see the world through this guy’s lense. It is a vista.

Then there is the other thing that you need to run a video blog. Internet. Not just internet, but fast, reliable internet. Luckily enough, I have the 10mbps offer from Zuku Fibre.

It’s kind of a double pro – put it on the internet, and get material from it as well – all without ever having to leave your sitting room. When we shoot the show, we sit on the couch  and we can discuss and dissect the topics of the day as we shoot . As soon as a bone of contention comes up, (like the spelling of the name Nerea) we look it up and settle the argument. Live. In real time. After editing, the video is uploaded the next day. It’s a quick, easy process.

Video blogs are the way of the future, in my opinion – because Kenyans are realizing that they don’t have to wait for too long to see a 10 minute video. Videos are fun to watch – whether cute cats or grumpy ones or babies experiencing snow for the first time. There’s a wealth of it at your fingertips. Facebook is competing with Google in terms of numbers on video links, so it is only a matter of time before the bug hits us. And, we can get our show on there too. We can get our show everywhere. Which is what we want.

I don’t think I would be able to do all of that without a relatively fast connection – you know the ones that tell you, straight-faced, that it will take 1543 minutes to upload your 10 minute video. It’s a hard way to live, I tell you.

They say that if you want to know a person, give them slow internet and see how they react. To be honest, I’m probably a monster. I can’t do pages that take eternities to load. I can’t do that whole waiting for a movie or a YouTube video to buffer for longer than the length of a video. What is that? Aaaargh! *shivers*

When you have something to say, you need an avenue to say it on, as fast and as loud as possible.

Y Do We Do It? Because we can. Because Zuku Fibre.

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P.S.

Follow this show on Twitter and Instagram and give us feedback. You can watch our first episode below;