Vancouver International Digital Festival

Goodbye reality TV, hello lifecasting!

Have you heard of Justin Kan? He’s the adventurous geek behind justin.tv, a website that shows a continuous live video and audio stream of his life. Everything he sees and hears, you see and hear. With thousands of people watching at any given time, Justin has become something of an Internet star and has appeared on the Today Show and World News Tonight television programs, among others. Justin.tv recently expanded to include live streams from Justine Ezarik (aka iJustine, a graphic designer in Pittsburgh), the Office Cam, and six others. You can create your own version of justin.tv too thanks to a similarly named company that launched in March – ustream.tv.

The interesting thing about Justin is that his life really is not that interesting! Much of the time, you can visit his website only to find him doing the mundane things we all do every day – eating, sleeping, riding the bus, etc. Yet thousands of viewers watch his life in real-time anyway. What will happen if more individuals follow in Justin’s footsteps and start broadcasting their lives too? Is there room for everyone? Will anyone watch?

I think the answer is yes – there’s room for everyone, and there definitely won’t be a lack of viewers! If millions of people are willing to watch a sometimes-scripted, always-edited “reality” TV show, then certainly there is a healthy audience for Justin and individuals like him. And at least a few members of that audience will want to become broadcasters themselves.

These “lifecasts” could potentially have a huge impact on society and digital media. Why keep a blog about your life when you can broadcast it 24/7? Imagine your family and friends ordering a highlight reel of your life on DVD, or restaurants and other locations declaring themselves “life cast friendly.” And that’s just the beginning!

It might sound scary, but the most interesting and influential ideas usually are.