http://storytelling.concordia.ca/ which is modifying this software – http://www.zotero.org/

I looked at most of the sites mentioned at ‘chaos’ (below) and a few others that I found on blogs or in forums and articles. Some of these sites were primarily about making money through advertising, some were about creating a brand for yourself, others were about ‘getting noticed’ and some gave very little information about uploads and file sizes. Those were the ones I only gleaned or ignored. The sites listed below were the ones I investigated in more depth because they seemed relevant and had potential for my project.

A website that ‘reviews’ 31 video hosting sites (except You Tube). Not much depth but useful links. http://chaos-laboratory.com/2007/08/30/top-31-free-alternatives-to-youtube-video-hosting-sites/

Looks interesting http://www.viddler.com/ 500mb per video and also allows tagging. No ads. “Nearly unlimited” uploads…? Clips are apparently protected from ripping.

A possible candidate. http://www.livevideo.com/ This site is about sharing and making friends via video. It’s sort of like Facebook combined with YouTube. Cannot find out how much space is allotted per file of how many files are allowed. I expect they tell you this after you have signed up.

http://www.dailymotion.com/ Looks okay, like many of the others. “There is no limit to the number of videos you can upload.” They don’t tell you whether or not there is a limit to the file size. Looks good, a possible candidate.

http://www.vidilife.com/ Unlimited video uploads but what file size? As the name indicates, this site is about social networking. Allows tagging. Site seems slow to me.

http://www.selfcasttv.com/ Not too forthcoming with information and a clunky layout with very small thumbnails. Based in Europe/UK.

http://www.vimeo.com/ Social networking and sharing of videos. Participation and interaction is encouraged but not mandatory. They stress video quality and security. “500MB per week of upload space” does that mean if I’m a member for a month I accumulate 2 gigs of space? Fairly straightforward interface, clear and simple. Based in the US. “It is not a commercial, infomercial or other type of advertisement. Vimeo is for personal, non-commercial use only.”

Of course there is always You Tube which is reliable and has a 100mb or 10 minute limit per file, but no mention of the number of files. You Tube videos can be downloaded/ripped easily so I am going to see how it works with privacy settings and access.

Wednesday 3:30 PM.

I have decided now to stop searching and begin testing the three of the most promising sites mentioned above. I will use a single file and upload it to each site to review the experience and the final quality of the playback.

VIDDLER – Easy account set-up. Confirmation e-mail did not arrive. Finally arrived after an hour or so. Video upload was very easy but very little technical information readily available for file specifics. Video is up and playing fine. Very smooth.

VIMEO – Very easy account set-up. Confirmation e-mail did not arrive after two tries. Confirmation finally arrived after a few hours. Video upload was easy and the technical specs for file is clear and right there as you go through the upload. Video is sitting there now and cannot be viewed as it is in a queue and will be for some time.

DAILY MOTION – Easy account set-up. Not as crazy about the interface but confirmation e-mail arrived promptly. Upload was fine but the interface was the least user-friendly of the tests and gave very little technical guidance.

YOU TUBE – the old standby still works well and is user friendly. Will test the privacy settings and linking to WordPress later.