Whether it be for life sustaining planets, God particles (maybe there’s more than one!), the Ark of the Covenant, or a decent spot to bury a body, success in one’s sometimes unsavory endeavors usually begins with a course of action enslaved to the answer of a simple question:

 Where should I start looking?

 Of particular importance to me is where I shall find my hourly entertainment fix on the 21st century time ripper that is the internet. Let’s go through a list of some of my favorites!

• hulu
• youtube
• wikipedia
• sluggy freelance
• omega13 (I know, I know… drop it already)
• rooster teeth
• pandora
• vimeo
• viral video vault
• dvxuser
• Prolost

 This is not, by far, a comprehensive list. Just some sites I frequent to mercilessly kill time. You may notice a pattern though, as there’s a categorical slant towards video and films. (Of course.) One might conclude that’s just what I like, which is true, but that’s only half the equation. A deeper study would indicate a problem with online distribution itself, which even the most successful online movie/video destination runs smack, headlong into.

 Which brings us back around to, where should I start looking?!

 Yeah, I have my favorite sites. But more are probably out there I would equally enjoy, yet haven’t a clue as to their existence. Even if YouTube was the only website I ever punched up… holy crap! There’s like what, 30,000 videos uploaded daily! Now Hulu is a little more simple, but mainly because it’s owned by NBC|Universal. Their mission statement is, “…to help people find and enjoy the world’s premium video content…” Premium, of course refers to the same junk the Networks and Hollywood have been flinging at us through television and movie theaters since not long after the advent of mass media.

 Well, ok, not all of it is junk, and actually a large portion is quite good. There are also some excellent web only series to be found on Hulu. Namely Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and Star-Ving.

 But the point I’m failing miserably to make is, with the online access explosion of video and movies, the best content available no longer comes soley from the media super-conglomerates such as NBC|Universal, Time Warner, Viacom, The Walt Disney Company, etc. At the moment, they’re the easiest to find, but their top-down pyramid of distribution is getting stretched flat by the centrifugal pull of the internet.

 Furthermore, we the audience, can create our own entertainment with the same production values associated with Hollywood and The Networks.¹  And, as computers become faster, storage becomes bigger, bandwidth- wider, access- more convenient, media creation tools- cheaper, and the end-user experience- effortless, (whew…) there are going to be many, many, many options that are mindbendingly phenomenal by today’s standards.

 One could hope the seemingly inevitable and significant increase in “amateur” production value (that is not an oxymoron, I promise) would mean that asking, “Where should I start looking?” will become a non-issue. Another way to say it, if everything’s at least decent, you can just watch/listen/(feel?!) whatever you stumble across first. (Just a quick reminder, I am still talking about the web.)

 But that’s probably not going to happen. Most people, when confronted with a myriad of excellent choices, become more discerning. Not necessarily in a negative way, either, but with increased awareness of what they prefer. They develop a taste, a style, an idea of what they actually want!

 So herein lies the beautisity of it all… as technology advances, people will increasingly be able to get entertainment that’s designed, intentionally or not, almost exclusively for them! Old demographics will shrink, new communities will emerge, and culture will expand. And all because there will be newer, better, and more distinct artisitic foundations to build these microcieties on.

 Ok, so the world is going the way of the prosumer (pick your flavor/s). All this means is, the problem of “where to look” is actually a problem of how to match an extremely narrow and specific audience with an extremely niche piece of content. And when I use the word match, I envision a meet-in-the-middle situation.

 [Que Heavy Metal soundtrack] But what forces of the internet hold sway over such chance occasions? What all-powerful spirits can draw two parties, unaware of either’s existence, together on the infinite digital plains?! 

 Well, search engines of course. That is, aside from glowing green orbs of evil.

 But search engines are a heavy topic, Doc, and one I’ll have to save for another post. Just remember, whoever figures this out will completely alter the entire media landscape forever, as well as save the universe. So in that sense, maybe the solution is not unlike The Fifth Element… It must be found!

¹ On a side note, I think I’m going to start a band called Hollywood and the Networks! It sounds so awesome! Well the name does, but the would-be band… probably not so much. Get it? We’re Hollywood and the Networks, and we suck!