Two minutes?

Another interesting point regarding the emergence of online video: the videos are tailored to viewers with short attention spans. The previously mentioned USA Today article lists a few current and upcoming web-only serials (beyond the aforementioned lonelygirl15) that churn out a high number of episodes, but limit the duration of each episode.

These include Prom Queen, a horror series geared toward young adults featuring two minute videos, and Foreign Body, a series based on a forthcoming book by Robin Cook (and an example of new media marketing in its own right) featuring about 50 two- to three-minute videos, leading up to the book's Aug. 5 release.

As Brent Weinstein, founder of online film production company 60Frames.com notes,

"Online entertainment is as different from TV as TV is from film," says Weinstein, whose company aims to have 50 Web series in production by the end of the year. "When you're telling stories in two-minute bursts, it's much more like a comic strip that you come back to day after day to see what happens. Not everyone can do it, but slowly we'll figure out who the Aaron Sorkins of the Web storytelling world are."

The two-minute drill that these videos embrace is consistent with the general impression of web surfers: short attention span, limited engagement, the pursuit of instant gratification, etc. And yet, a 2007 eye tracking study from Poynter found that online news readers spend longer amounts of time consuming content than print readers.

One can only assume the difference is intent. The short video serials are geared toward a younger audience who, likely, stumble upon entertainment content or are directed to said content by peers, and who quickly move on to something else, in either case. Whereas news readers expect to spend time delving into articles (and have a great deal more options to select than print readers), since they often actively seek out news material.

It will be interesting to see if two minutes becomes the online standard in the way that television shows are divided in 30 and 60 minutes chunks (counting ads time) -- or if Hollywood-backed content providers will remain flexible in light of the medium's flexibility. Time will tell if the comic strip method prevails.