Happy 4th Siftiversary!

posted by Brian Houston (dag) 1 decade 4 years 9 months 1 week ago • 1,400 views


So, 4 years.

I’m still very, very happy to be working on VideoSift- I guess you can say it’s become my life’s work, for this decade at least. I’ve been reading a great book called The Black Swan. It’s about the inability to predict life-changing events- how some things just come completely out of left-field. VideoSift is my black swan.

We started the site at almost exactly the right time- though we didn’t know it. YouTube was getting popular but still hadn’t reached the mass-market yet. Did you know the VideoSift’s slogan used to be “The Best of Youtube and Google Video”? Back in 2006- that’s pretty much all there was.

I almost abandoned VideoSift before it started. In the months leading up to its launch, I was an avid participant in MetaFilter. To me, this was a community done right. A shared community culture with lot’s of interesting, quirky people. The idea behind VideoSift was always to apply this to a video site. I was working on VideoSift 1.0 - about a week away from launch- when I read about a new site had that had just been launched that seemed to be exactly what VideoSift wanted to be- a voting powered community based on embedded video. VideoSift was almost still-born.

But I’d been working pretty hard on the site- and decided to put it out there anyway. Amazingly enough VideoSift took off. The competitor that beat us to the market, VideoBomb languished, even though they had the “first mover” advantage. So, why is VideoSift still around 4 years down the road and going strong? It’s the people. Rather than focus on the videos themselves, we’ve always chosen to make this place about the people who come here. This was the ingredient of a good community site that I thought was most important – and I tried to bake it into VideoSift from the beginning.

It’s four years on now and I’ll be honest in saying that it’s getting harder to maintain that focus. Sometimes I fear that we’ve lost a bit of our magic. There are a lot more of us for one thing. Also, we’re not the nimble young community that we once were- in some ways we’re lumbered with the layers of culture, rules and etiquette that have accumulated. In what will be our 5th year, we will shake things up and strip off a few layers. We’ve reinvented ourselves a few times now- expect something like that to keep happening. We’ll always keep the focus on our members- but we don’t want to be afraid to change.

I’d like to thank the members that have contributed so much to making VideoSift a great community. The video fixers and the grim reapers of dead videos; The members who greet and help the new guys as the welcoming committee and the members who note the achievements of other members with congratulatory Sift Talk posts. I’m grateful for these people and everyone who makes VideoSift a great community first and the world’s best video site second.

So from @lucky760 (who is on holiday) and myself - Happy Siftiversary, and I hereby open up the celebrations and declare this a VideoSift holiday. The lounge is open to all logged in members for the next 24 hours. Join us.

55 Comments

maatc says...

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Ornthoron says...

When I think of how much this place has changed only in the ~1 year I've been active, I am daunted by what you creators must have had to endure. My relationship with videosift is far from easy, and the time I spend here varies wildly from month to month. But it is always a safe place to return, because of all the wonderful people here. Please keep it like that in the future, and don't be afraid to change things again and again! I'll come back here as long as videosift stays a safe place for good conversations with intelligent people, and as long as all you weirdos post strange videos I wouldn't have discovered otherwise.

peggedbea says...

i had an idea, it involved the use of chickens, cardboard, a skateboard and mine and iv's kids... but then i realized neither one of us has a video camera or editing skills, and that all we do when we get together is burn our bras and talk about how our significant others oppress us.

dag says...

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

James is frozen in a secret bunker to be thawed out only in times of darkest Sift emergencies.

Actually James is pursuing other interests - sowing his wild oats I think. He graduated from university and headed for the coast. Perhaps he'll make an appearance?>> ^arvana:
Major congrats to Dag, Lucky and all of us for being so awesome!
And where is James Roe???  Somebody grab that guy and tell him we still love him.

Shepppard says...

Well, a toast.

(If you don't have a drink, go get one now. Seriously, I'll wait.)

To one of the greatest internet communities around. A place where intellectuals can gather and discuss,
or downvote a QM comment.

This may be a website dedicated to videos, but the community is its true shining glory. People from all over the world gathered in an intellectual hub where people actually tend to reference their points, and back them up with facts, rather then straight up name calling.

So, here's to videosift, dag, and lucky.

Without them, We'd never have this great community of ours, congratulations on this 4 year anniversary, and here's to another 4.

Cheers.

Issykitty says...

Lucky and Charms in Paris? Lucky Lucky!!! But seriously, Happy Birthday and many meows to my favorite community around! I've always felt this was a place of wonderful discovery, comraderie and fun. May your creation thrive on for a gadzillion more! Huzzah!!!

EDD says...

The Sift is and I'm pretty sure will remain the single greatest quantifiable impact in my life in terms of non-academic learning. My immense gratitude goes out to dag and lucky and any and all Sifters who I've interacted with during my 3 year tenure You are all awesome, so remind me to buy y'alls a round of drinks the first time we meet in meat-space. Yeah, even you, Siftbot.

James Roe says...

>> ^arvana:
Major congrats to Dag, Lucky and all of us for being so awesome!
And where is James Roe???  Somebody grab that guy and tell him we still love him.


Awwww..... shucks, I miss the sift, but after school I had to concentrate on "making money." I am still into web development and actually check in on the sift pretty regularly, but I don't find myself with anywhere near the leisure time I once had.

Beyond that Lucky is a Grade A developer, my skills would no doubt be getting in his way. That said it's incredible to see this site 4 years on, so much has changed but the commitment to quality, and sense of community have remained.

Also choggie's video is awesome!

Fist Pound

deputydog says...

Oh, and Da-cky: congratulations on completing your first term. The war you waged against the axis of evideo was swift and crushing.

Actually, if it weren't for my previous addiction to this site I'd probably still be sat in an office right now, employed by a gaggle of simpletons. As it is, I'm now free to work in my underpants and masturbate at will. Heartfelt thanks chaps.

choggie says...

^^ Man I never got to meet the snakeplissken here-swampgirl and a few others used to muse that choggie was he resurrected, as he bailed just prior to my popping by-He removed all of his comments and vaporized so I have no clue....

Why did he split??Cocaine paranoia, perhaps???

Hive13 says...

I have been a sift member since 2007, but I have been lurking almost since the beginning. I remember Videosift being linked from someplace (I think Blue's New perhaps) and I ended up spending WAY too much time on the sift that day. I watched and enjoyed videos as a guest and finally registered to upload my first video. I LOVE coming here daily (actually multiple times a day....don't tell my boss). The community is great. It is rare these days to have a mature, intelligent, helpful and friendly community on the internet, but the sift has one of the best. Thanks everyone.

Dag, thanks and congrats for the last 4 years and here's to many, many more.

spoco2 says...

Congrats on the 4 years... I check the site out every working day, I get into pissy verbal fights with people and I get amused... it is a fine place, and is far, far preferable to visit over youtube for relaxation. Oh, and thanks to a promoted video a couple of days ago I just got really into Mumford and Sons and went and bought their CD... so, yeah, you create purchases also

dag says...

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Thanks everyone for the appreciation - and thanks especially to @choggie who gets a t-shirt and other goodies for his submission. Shame we couldn't have had more, but I think the award is deserved. I support the trash your TV message.

I'm returning the Lounge to its normal settings - please return to your previous sifting positions. Looking forward to year 5 - it will be huge.

choggie says...

I'd like to thank the dead man's cat, Rudy, for scratching the shit out of me when I tried to put him in a flower bowl...my mother, who left her purse out when I was 18 months old-I couldn't have done it without that first Preludin....my mate Mark, who laughed uncontrollably every time I pulled the stupid face at the end of the shot (one-take, thank you very much)...To the cameraman and director I wish many random invitations to anonymous sexual encounters in public places....may he be the first man on an accident scene involving an armored car carrying 400 pounds of unmarked $20 notes, in easy to manage and fashionable handbags.

Uhhhh, when do I get the goodies dag?....cause it's like...uh, I cant wait to wear that 100% Cotton T an shit.....

Throbbin says...

Congrats Dag. Thanks for not aborting VS back in the day.

This is the most lovable collection of nerds, geeks, anti-socials, geniuses, assholes, comedians, artists, and regular folk I've ever met.

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