Video Nation

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Video Nation is a BBC television project in social anthropology and audience interactivity. Since 1993 the BBC has encouraged people to record their lives on video. These video diaries were then shown on BBC TV and, since 2001, included on the BBC's website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/videonation/.

The original project was created in the Community Programme Unit for BBC 2. It was founded and co-produced between 1993 and 2001 by Chris Mohr and Mandy Rose. A diverse group of fifty people were selected from across the UK, given training in the use of camcorders and invited to record aspects of everyday life during the course of a year. From their recordings the team drew material for a range of programmes, of which the best known are the Shorts which were broadcast before BBC 2's Newsnight. Contributors had a right of veto over their material so that nothing was broadcast without their consent. BBC 2 de-commissioned the series in 2000 at which point a website was built from the existing archive. Since then hundreds of contributors have made Shorts for the site, and Video Nation has returned to BBC TV screens during thematic seasons. This alt-media project precedes vlogging by several years.