Do you produce any video content? You should. Producing video is easier than ever, but can seem complicated. I have a passion for all forms of digital media production but video is by far my favorite. I’ve heard from many training professionals that it just doesn’t interest them and they’d rather just hire a production shop when they need video. But I’ve also heard from those who just don’t know where to start and fear failure. There are good reasons for hiring professionals and there are good reasons for doing a little DIY video. This is why I’m starting the #vidfri hashtag so we can gather with a shared purpose.

Why #vidfri

#VidFri is a simple hashtag for communicating your interest in sharing and learning more about video production. It stands for Video Friday. I’ve discovered over the years that the most valuable part of social media is the connections and relationships built around a specific topic. I started to take notice of my person social media habits and realized that I was consistently experimenting and sharing with video most often on Fridays. And so, the hashtag #vidfri was born.

What do we do on Video Friday?

I’m far too casual about these things to put rules into place. So, of course you should learn about producing video on other days of the week as well. Friday seemed like a good day share and have a conversation about what we’ve learned, the videos we’ve published, or videos we’ve found and want to share.

This isn’t another twitter chat. Unless someone wants to take on that responsibility. For now, if you have an interest in video just put aside an hour or so on Fridays and try something new.  Then share it with the #vidfri hashtag on your social media platform of choice, or all of them.

The primary focus will be on applying video in the realm of corporate training, but I don’t think we should limit conversation. I’m a fan of letting the community drive the conversation. If the community takes it off the rails, then so be it. Think about using video on twitter to ask a question of the community.  Even if the question is not related to video production, by using video to ask the question we can all learn together.

And it doesn’t matter what day you use the hashtag. You can use the #vidfri hashtag on any day of the week. As I mentioned earlier, Friday just feels like a good day for personal development in general so let’s roll with it.

Things to try out for #vidfri

If you’re still with me on this, then here’s a list of ideas that you may or may not be aware of.

• Twitter – The mobile twitter app allows you to record and trim video to less than 30secs. It gives you the ability to say a lot than what can be said in 140 characters. Sample Experiment: Say hi to the Litmos team by posting a short video on twitter with @Litmos #vidfri
• Instagram – Instagram allows 3-15 secs of video. Video on Instagram help page.
• Vine – Vine videos are VERY short. You are limited to only 6 secs.
• Facebook – You don’t have a time limit with Facebook. However, you are limited to uploading files sizes under 25mb.
• Google Hangouts On Air – Participate in a LIVE streaming conversation using G+HoA (Google+ Hangouts on Air).
• Meerkat – It’s a live mobile video streaming app. Watch a few live meerkat streams and then launch your own stream.
• Periscope – It’s twitter’s version of live mobile video streaming.

And if those don’t interest you then try one of following.

• Make a short software how-to video using a screen recording tool like Camtasia, Screenr, Jing, or Screenflow.
• Or make a short video with iMovie(Mac) or MovieMaker(PC). I’m not sure about WindowsPhone, but I know the iPhone has version of iMovie and it’s pretty slick. So if you’ve already done some video work on a desktop, then push yourself a little bit by shooting, editing, and publishing all from your iPhone.
• If you are interested in learning more about Google hangouts then join me, Enzo Silva, Craig Wiggins, and Melissa Milloway this Friday for our Learning Circles hangout.

The purpose of #vidfri is to have a unique hashtag for discussing our successes and failures with video production. As a community of interested instructional video producers we can begin to share ideas and expand our skills. I hope you’ll join me in this conversation. I’m looking forward to learning and sharing.