Hulu Invites Users to Contribute Tags in Order to Facilitate Content Discovery

In a posting on a corporate blog Monday, Hulu, the free, ad-supported broadband video venture co-owned by The Walt Disney Company (ABC), NBC Universal and News Corp. (Fox), announced that it is launching a user-generated/crowd-sourced tagging system to facilitate content discovery, because its video catalog has now "grown to a size where tags will prove extremely useful": "Those of you who are heavy users of the Web are likely already familiar with the benefits of tags as both a classification system and a discovery tool," the posting--authored by Hulu product manager, Varun Narang--stated. "With the Web sprouting up in random directions so quickly, you could say that a bottoms-up classification system like tags was made for the Web (and in large part, it was). It doesn't depend on any single authority to function, yet from the varied activity of millions of users, an organic, flexible, and useful order emerges."

"On each video or show page on our site," the blog post continued, "you'll find a list of tags near the bottom of the main page or in the 'Tags' tab to the right of the 'Discussions' tab. Simply check the box next to any tags you think are appropriate to that video or show, or use the 'Add Tags' entry box to add your own. Click on any tag or enter a term such as 'comedy' in the 'Search with Tags' box to discover other videos with that tag on Hulu. Narrow your search results by adding related tags--for instance, add 'satire' to your comedy tag search to find videos tagged both 'comedy and satire.' Click on 'Your Tags' to see all videos that you've tagged. Filter the list of all your tagged videos by selecting one or more of your tags listed in the left column. Using this feature you can create custom collections of videos." Hulu says that it plans to filter out any profanity in user-generated tags.

In other broadband video news: Last week, Disney/ABC Television Group launched a Webisode spin-off of its hospital drama, "Grey's Anatomy." Entitled "Seattle Grace: On Call" and sponsored by Bertolli, the spin-off consists of six four- to five-minute Webisodes, as well as a "behind-the-scenes" mini-documentary that chronicles the spin-off's production. The first Webisode launched last Thursday, following the TV broadcast of an episode of "Grey's Anatomy." "Our goal with the Web series is to expand the 'Grey's' universe by offering a unique perspective of the various happenings at Seattle Grace, while paralleling some of the same storylines seen on the show," "Grey's Anatomy" creator and executive producer, Shonda Rhimes, said in a prepared statement. "The intent is to put everything fans love about 'Grey's' into these short, four-minute mini-episodes that have been designed solely for the Internet. We hope our fans will enjoy a new take on the familiar 'Grey's' world--which will appear exclusively on our Web site during the time our actual episodes repeat, from November through January."

According to Disney/ABC, "Seattle Grace: On Call" takes place primarily in "Joe's Emerald City Bar, the popular hangout spot for doctors and interns alike" and "follows the trials and tribulations of many of the familiar faces featured in 'Grey's Anatomy." Its Webisodes are being released on the following schedule: 1, November 19th; 2, December 3rd; 3, December 10th; 4, December 17th; 5, January 14th; 6, January 21st; mini-documentary, January 27th.