Our ContentSutra correspondent Nikhil Pahwa has written an analysis and trends piece on the rise of user-generated content in India and elsewhere..and something unique to India and other developing countries: “For mobile content in India, the floodgates opened with the infamous pornographic MMS that was passed around from phone to phone via Bluetooth - I’m sure it created a huge market for mobile phones with cameras, and more and more people began exchanging photos and videos as a result of it. The mobile is more potent because one can post immediately, but there are issues of access availability and cost. A convergent device and a device independent network with mobile access will solve that problem eventually. The real problem, and I’m sure there are lots of people trying to figure this out - is how can UGC be monetized, because:
- The system is (mostly) unmoderated and completely unpredictable
- Any marketing gimmick that tries to hoodwink the masses will eventually be spotted by a merciless audience
- Push wont be as effective, but can survive if it is obvious as a push initiative.
- A pull, if not a viral but a search-dependent pull, will be painstakingly slow (but often worth it)
- Defining context that sells for contextual advertising for video content is going to be difficult.”
More here.