If you’re at all involved in digital media, you’ve probably heard of Amanda Congdon: in November 2006, she was the first videoblogger to cross over to a mainstream network when she was hired to host a weekly show on ABCnews.com. Last week, however, it was announced that that Amanda would be leaving her ABC position.
As host on the popular and cutting-edge videoblog Rocketboom, Amanda became the first famous videoblogger. Her transition to a major network was heralded as a validation of online video and a sign of transformation in the media industry. While Amanda’s departure from ABC hasn’t so far earned the ink her arrival did, some folks seemed just as eager to use it as a defining moment for the medium, saying her split with ABC spells disaster for videobloggers everywhere. If an online star like Amanda can’t succeed in mainstream media, after all, can anybody?
To use the success or failure of any one performer or show as a signal for the health of an entire medium is shortsighted. Frankly, I feel sorry for Amanda; because celebrity, gossip and sweeping generalizations sell magazines and papers (or generate traffic), whatever she does is going to be scrutinized and oversimplified. Still, the coverage was right about one thing: the media industry is transforming. While Amanda was working at ABC (as well as starting several of her own projects), the online video industry contined to grow at a rapid pace. And it will continue to do so with or without Amanda Congdon as a spokeswoman for new media.