DEMOfall has some great debuts on show this year including a YourTrumanShow widget called VideoMap. This little tool links friends and their videos across several social networks such as MySpace and Facebook.

The intuitive, embeddable widget is a graphical relationship map that renders a graphical representation of video collections. The new widget can be placed and accessed by anyone on the Web and it allows video producers and fans to share content from inside the widget.

Your Truman Show

YTS was founded last year by Arturo Artom and Luca Ferrero. The San Francisco company is a video blogging enterprise that helps everyday people distribute great stories in their video diaries. 

The beta version allows anyone to create a personal channel, share life stories and view other people’s lives. This latest widget promises to connect people even more closely via what is essentially a mental map to their YTS presence.

DEMO And YTS

According to Chris Shipley - Executive Producer of DEMO:

“VideoMap changes the social ecosystem by making media the filter for discovering new networks of content and friends, creating global neighborhoods that eliminate the boundaries between disparate social networks.”

I hope Chris took a breath in there somewhere, and I have never heard the term ecosystem used to describe an online entity - but the VideoMap does in fact bring networks to the people. 

According to Co-Founder Arturo Artom, VideoMap becomes smarter over time as the widget is virally distributed, amassing user preference data as it is used. Essentially, VideoMap is an object oriented video aggregator with expanded selection criteria.

Two Views

VideoMap provides two views for users. In view one- users see themselves at the center of a video hub where theirs and their friends’ collections are displayed from across the Web. In the second view the user is still at the center but now they see their friends’ collections and other collections associated with those. 

The idea is not rocket science but it is useful and effective. The popularity of YTS and its rather tongue in cheek approach to things is refreshing if a little adolescent. 

Two views can also represent two approaches to collaboration I suppose and VideoMap is one of those. In the screens it is easy to see the effect of VideoMaps and also the artsy light atmosphere the tool creates.

Conclusions

Of course this is going to be a popular addition to an already successful enterprise and I can’t say I dislike it because it is cool. I just wish Chris would not describe everything at DEMO as the obelisk from 2010 the movie. 

“Oh my God it’s full of stars!” does not quite fit this widget from YourTrumanShow but aside from that users will enjoy the new feature and its capability to span the Web.

Phil Butler is a contributing author discussing the social networking world, his work can be found on Profy.com

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