Using our platform to influence others

Have you watched the thought-provoking Web 2.0 … The Machine is Us/ing Us?

This 4 minute 31 second video clip on YouTube.com has become extremely popular. Warning: It’s really geeky, full of web terms like HTML, XML, Web 2.0, and other techie stuff.

But starting about the 3 minute mark, it turns philosophical and very thought-provoking.

I like it for another reason. It’s a great example of using free stuff to create and distribute content that has become extremely popular. He used a free screen recording tool^{see below}, video editing software (don’t know if it’s free or not), and free music from an Ivory Coast guy released under creative commons. It was created by an anthropology prof at Kansas State university (not your typical media producer!). As of today, it’s been viewed 1,947,333 times. It has topped the Super Bowl ad videos.

What I really like is the reminder that every one of us has a platform to influence others. This K-State prof is influencing millions of others. Have you used your platform this week?

Interesting note: I use a screen capture and editing tool called Camtasia Studio by Techsmith. I think it’s great. I’ve promoted the use of it in Campus Crusade for Christ to help educate and tech support our staff around the world. CamStudio (used by this K-State professor) which seems to be something like Camtasia Studio but in effect is the early version of Adobe Captivate which is a Camtasia Studio competitor!!! Go figure!!!