Podcasting will probably stay within the realm of amateur broadcasters, but it does give the ordinary person a complementary medium to blogging, says Glen Verran, who hosted the country`s first Podcamp last weekend.
Verran and his wife Bridgitte host popular podcast, the ZAshow.
He says making money through advertising and sponsorships is fairly limited, as once commercial considerations come into play, podcasters have to produce content, whether they like it or not.
"Now we are able to post the shows whenever we feel there is something to say, or we have suitable content and that is why it is popular with the audience," he says.
Podcamp, an idea that originated in Boston, USA, earlier this year, is an "unconference". It does not have a formal structure, but invites people who are interested in speaking to do so if they feel the need. This format emphasises the role and use of new media by ordinary people and/or small businesses.
About 100 people attended the first Podcamp, in Cape Town. Demonstrations by Apple`s South African distributor, Apple IMC, showed how the company`s products can be used for podcasting. Verran demonstrated the Audacity open source program, which he says is ideal for first time podcasters.
One of the speakers, independent marketing consultant Dave Duarte, says grabbing an audience`s attention is becoming far more difficult. This is as a result of the information overload experienced by many people due to the proliferation of the Internet and other forms of electronic media, he notes.
"About 100 years ago, the average person received as much information as the equivalent of a month`s supply of the New York Times. Today, it is almost incalculably greater," he says.
Nevertheless, Duarte believes blogging and podcasting give a voice to ordinary consumers, and companies have to take note of this.
Llew Classen, co-founder and chief executive of Web training company Keyjam.net, provided a case study on social networking sites SAreunited and Facebook. He says the way for these sites to make money is still not clear.
"Right now, there is no clear way for them to make money, but sooner or later a tipping point will be found when the monetary value is as important as the social value is to the current users," he notes.
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