modmylife

Lifecasting ad absurdum

Mary Jane Irwin · 11/06/07 07:15PM

One lifecasting video entrepreneur makes it big, and suddenly the Internet is crawling with me-too networks and absurd self-broadcasting mashups. The latest such venture moves from simple audience observation to audience participation. Mod My Life pegs itself as a new form of virtual reality. One of its "modstars" (a witless if not unwitting chap armed to the teeth with broadcasting equipment) is unleashed in New York City. Think of it as Digg meets Subservient Chicken: Viewers submit actions for the bloke to perform, and in Digg-like fashion, the most popular suggestions are voted on, and then the lifecaster is forced to perform them. Genius examples include "pretend to be the bouncer at the Taco Bell" and "try and sell a free newspaper." I'm waiting for "have a quickie in a needle-laden alleyway" or "defecate on Prometheus at the Rockefeller Center." Bonus points awarded for "holding my attention for more than five minutes" and "making its way out of beta."