The Potential of a Web Series

If you’ve ever become so engrossed in a television show because of the way it is presented – a long, complex, winding story told over many moons, then a web series will be right up your alley. The narrative potential is incalculable compared to those on television, because of several factors; ease of publishing, transmedia, and community feedback

To publish a web series takes no more IT knowledge than it does to post to a blog, or to play a game of partypoker. YouTube is the ideal platform, as you are given a “channel” – somewhere people can watch your videos, comment on your overall work, and subscribe to your content (which allows you to analyse the size of your fanbase). It’s an exciting thing to be part of, and if your produced content is strong, it can go viral within hours.

You also have the potential, using the web, of approaching your web series with a transmedia experience in mind. This means your series will extend beyond the mere boundaries of video content, and can spread to blogs, Twitter, and other media formats that all tie into the story you’re telling, allowing people to connect with more than just the footage on offer.

Community feedback is extremely important, and while a TV series may conduct the odd survey or broadcast pilot episodes to a test audience, that’s as far as it goes. With a web series, you can get near-instant feedback from your viewers and the community around the series itself, and this will allow creators to fine-tune what they’re making to better appeal to the audience – although it’s important to remember that your original vision is more important than anything else.

Making a web series is an exciting prospect, and the potential and advantages are clear. Hopefully one day there’ll be posts on the site all about whatever you’re working on.

Good luck, and have fun.