Please read Part I prior to reading this article. Also, please scroll down and press pause to stop the inbound video feeds until you’re ready.

The new world of lifecasting through video, a la Justin.tv, and through other flow apps such as Twitter, Jaiku and Tumblr, are lessons in Internet culture, communication and proof that narcissism can be a powerful driver for technology adoption.

In my last several posts, I’ve documented the migration of text-based streams. In this post, I’d like to review the forthcoming onslaught of You.tv lifecasters that are going to give online viewers their own version of online reality programming that will eclipse everything on broadcast, cable, and satellite television today.

On the surface, it’s easy to mistake this movement for narcissism, or as Chris Pirillo calls it, “The Narcissytem.” This perceived aura of self-importance is actually nothing new. Afterall, this is the generation that believes that they are all rock stars and therefore behave accordingly. The difference is that now they have the tools and the technology readily available for them to now also become TV stars.

I call this You.tv.

You.tv is far more valuable to the reality of what is, what will be, and what’s possible. It is an inevitable reality and it will deprive you of countless, precious hours whether you’re producing or watching – or both. It’s already underway.

As I mentioned in my last post on the subject, that Justin.tv was much more than novelty, it was the beginning of mobile lifecasting. I stated that regardless of what the future held for Justin.tv, that it would inspire others to replicate his programming by simply living life through their own digital eye. I did not however, realize how quickly this would transpire.

Last night we (bub.blicio.us) co-sponsored a one month milestone party along with Scott Beale of Laughing Squid. While I was prepared to promote the event one last time, I was distracted by the buzz on Twitter that Robert Scobe was experimenting with a live video stream (dubbed the Scoblecam), which he was planning to debut at the Web 2.0 Expo on Monday. In fact, Scoble previewed the capability by broadcasting his family’s drive up to Merced.

Jeremiah Owyang shortly after, announced that he too would broadcast live from the Web 2.0 Expo. In fact, he wrote an incredible piece detailing how to do it yourself.

Chris Pirillo set all of this in motion when he announced and demonstrated his ability to lifecast – live.

What do they all have in common? Whereas the Justin.tv crew creating their own broadcast platform, Scoble, Pirillo and Owyang are utilizing Chris Yeh’s new up-and-coming lifecasting network, Ustream.tv.

Ustream.tv is the Youtube of lifecasts and it’s providing lifecasters with an intuitive and feature-rich platform to start broadcasting their own You.tv channel. While the network needs basic aesthetic improvements, the infrastructure is impressive.

Is this too much, as asked by Matthew Ingram and further discussed by Scoble? No way. It’s not about those that don’t find it fascinating, it’s about that people that do.

As Jeremiah points out, all you need is a notebook, extended batteries, a webcam, a mobile EVDO or 3G connection, and a Ustream.tv account. I’ll add that either courage or a big ego is also a prerequisite for a mobile lifecast.

The other important ingredient is people. Without anyone watching, then it really is nothing more than egocasting.

What sets Justin.tv apart from the rest? Well, so far he’s the only one who’s 1) monetized it and 2) broadcasts 24/7. Justin.tv is so far the Web’s most ambitious, and proven, You.tv lifecast. How long that will last is numbered. However, with every new lifecast that goes online, the world of entertainment and programming will forever be changed.

Digg | del.icio.us | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl |

How many unfinished posts do you have in your draft folder? Or, better yet, how many ideas do you have that you are hoping to get to one day.

Well if you’re anything like me, a post is much more than simply sitting down, typing, linking, adding tags and then clicking the post button. And, this is an example of one such post.

Enter tumblelogs.

According to Wikipedia, “A tumblelog is a variation of a blog, that favors short-form, mixed-media posts over the longer editorial posts frequently associated with blogging. Common post formats found on tumblelogs include links, photos, quotes, dialogues, and video. Unlike blogs, this format is frequently used to share the author’s creations, discoveries, or experiences without providing a commentary.”

After reading Josh Lowensohn’s post on Tumblr, I was motivated to give it a shot. Why, because I tend to write articles rather than posts, yet every now and then, I come across interesting facts, notable advice, intriguing videos, and incredible pictures. The PR2.0 blog usually isn’t the spot for it and well, most of the time they’re not very bub.blicio.us, so running an experiment on Tumblr is a worthy experiment.

Per the company site, “Tumblr is your friendly and free tool for creating tumblelogs.”

On one side of the scale, you have blogging platforms such as WordPress, Blogger, and Typepad. On the extreme opposite you have flow apps (credit: Stowe Boyd) aka microblogs such as Twitter and Jaiku. Somewhere in the middle are tumblelogs and Tumblr fits right in.

The one thing that is most pervasive, now more than ever, is that there are far too many compelling applications and tools competing for our attention. Tumblr and flow apps definitely appeal to the A.D.D. in all of us.

Tumblr, subscribes to the less is more philosophy and provides various forms of posting options including word posts, photos, videos, quotes, URLs, and IM conversations. Have something quick you want to say or share? Then tumbleblogs are the quick and easy way to go. It has all of the reach of standard blogs, with less of the physical and mental overhead.

Depending on your post content, Tumblr presents the information specific to the media type. For example, video is placed in a YouTube style, conversations resemble an IM window, Quotes are large, etc.

There’s also a helpful toolbar link that you can drag up to your bookmarks, “Share on Tumblr.” It automatically assesses the page you’re on and offers up a suggested post type in a separate window for on-the-spot publishing to your tumblelog.

For those more sophisticated users, you can acquire your own domain. For example, if these tests succeed, then I’ll most likely set it up as www.briansolis.com/tumble. The cool thing is that it also allows the integration of existing CSS stylesheets so that the look and feel of the blog will be consistent throughout both – even though they’re hosted by two separate services.

At next week’s Web 2.0 Expo, I will live blog the event using a combination of Tumblr, Flickr, and Twitter. I will use Jaiku to represent the concerted flow from all forms of media from the event. Subscribe to the feed here.

For more detail on the subject, read a great post by Gina Trapani, “Geek to Live: Instant, no-overhead blog with Tumblr.”

Scott Beale of Laughing Squid also has a post on the subject, “Tumblr Making Blogging Easy.”

Add to: | Digg | del.icio.us | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl |