- I agree that the moving image would be distracting, the original idea was to lock a pic as the background (like the first example in the video). The moving video/streaming felt creepy, but new and different in a fun way. I wanted to include it as an idea.
The theme I really like here is exposing the environment of the blogger. I don't think this would make sense for large corporate blogs, but it could be a fun modern take/throwback to the days of personal publishing sites like LiveJournal etc.
I'm not sure what 'exposing the environment of the blogger' would really do or add to a blog. I mean, how about this: right now as I write this here is a picture of my environment.
That's my wife in the background playing skyrim while I do stuff on the computer. With Kevin Rose's idea the background would be blurred, but even still, does this add anything to the post?
Dude! I have that exact same blanket! We now are further connected by that small fact! OMG. I will now continue to read your blog and pretend I am not turned on by your evil blue hue.
Amaaaazing! I've been waiting for that number for two weeks now! I can't believe I got it. I should edit that sarcasm to be something a bit more insightful.
I'm so damned cynical. This is what I imagined: Google has a meeting where they say: "We really need to get people to turn their webcams on for us. There's too much good data to be had there." Kevin Rose thinks about it, and comes up with this approach. The video is blurred for the audience, but the video that Google gets is crystal clear. They present it in this way so as to make it seem as benign as possible.
They add to the post the same way any selfie adds to any post. it provides fulfilling narcissism to the author, and a human connection to the reader. despite our technology we're still biologically hardwired to respond emotionally to faces.
That's a great connection you've made. This is basically taking a "selfie" and trying to extend the meaning of it to connect with people in blog form. I don't think it adds anything to the post, but a lot of people will be using this feature to make themselves feel more important (narcissism has already been touched on here).
But I wouldn't underestimate two key driving forces within most people; narcissism and voyeurism. His idea touches on both.but even still, does this add anything to the post?
Simply put, no.