I was waiting for a flight to Vancouver for Launch Party at the Grow Conference when I got an email asking me to edit a recent post on WhatsTrending.com. They wanted me to take out “web series” and replace the writeup with the term “original series”. It made sense to me , considering that it’s been a stance we’ve taken with a lot of our online content including, What’s Trending.

We never looked at it as a “web series”. I’ve always described it as a broadcast quality show (some might refer that to a TV show) with the authenticity and interactivity of the web. Why alienate content as just being on the web? The fact is all content this day in age and even more so in the future will be available everywhere (mobile, tablet, laptop, tv screen, etc)- the creative around the content is what will be different. Will it look like a vlog, film, tv quality? We’ve also seen that there’s a pre-conceived notion around calling a series a “web show”. It’s just the reality of the situation.

Wilson Cleveland wrote a Tumblr post about that (link is below), giving his grandmother’s friends a link to his “original series” and another group a link to his “web show”. Which do you think had the most click-thrus? As much as the web have been a democratizing and liberating platform, as content creators we need to get ourselves outside of the web box. It’s not about trying to reach for TV, it’s just about giving digital video content the value it deserves for advertisers, viewers and ultimately ourselves.

Read the responses below from my tweet. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Tags: shira lazar, shiralazar, tubefilter, web tv

I’m loving this site- Trendwatching, which pegs itself as the “world’s leading consumer trends firm, relying on a global network of hundreds of spotters.” This month, their newsletter focuses on the trend of innovation- from hotel’s offering reading clubs and restaurants with Spanish classes, to ATMs that allow you to donate to your favorite charity and bamboo bikes benefiting entrepreneurs in the developing world. With all the noise around us, their list picks out those awesome and inspiring innovations happening all around us that we just might miss. Thank you!

Tags: shira lazar, shiralazar, trends, trendwatching

It’s already Thursday but hope you’re enjoying your summer and had a great 4th!

I was in the Hamptons and bumped into a guy that looked like he came off a rave boat or from space. He was wearing a wetsuit looking jacket that had a huge solar panel on the back. It was a prototype for an actual product he’s working on that could charge your iPhone or iPod from anywhere. Very cool! To check his company out online go to: combhard.com

Tags: combhard, iphone, ipod, shira lazar, shiralazar, solar charge