Into the Static

last updated 2014-02-12

Internet videos on a real time, thematic shuffle

Into The Static (previously hosted at intothestatic.com) was an application that collected videos from Instagram for a specified keyword and played them in a neverending sequence. As new videos were posted, they were pushed into the front of the queue so you often got the feeling like you were watching a network of "live" CCTV cameras. One of my favorite moments was watching #snow right at the first snowfall of the year, as videos punctuated the static in increasing frequency. More sobering was using it to see a livestream of protests in Venezuela in 2014.

Oddly, folks noticed, and at one point the database had indexed over a million videos as people tested out different keywords.

Dear TV,

You’ve had a good run.

Love, Into the Static

It’s the latest innovation in time-wasting excellence, it compiles and plays all the best/weirdest/randomest Vine and Instagram videos out there, and it’s online now.

This. Now... this is a treasure. Basically, it’s like one very sick (and intelligent) individual took all the best short videos in the world and put them on shuffle. And it’s every bit as bizarre and terrifying as that sounds.

Here’s what you do. You go to the site, you log in with your Instagram account—if you don’t have one, you can still watch the videos—and you type in whatever hashtag your heart and/or insatiable curiosity desires. Then, this thing trolls the entire Vinesphere/Instagramaverse and plays you whatever it finds. And that’s when amazing happens.

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There was international coverage as well. They had a more sober view on the possibility to view important world events like the then ongoing unrest in Ukraine and Venezuela.

La révolution digitale avec ses objets connectés et ses nouveaux canaux ou medias, fait bien son œuvre. Elle réinvente les modes de communication et de vie et on l’expérimente avec délectation, attention, folie ou effroi, chaque jour. ... Et ainsi regarder en direct leur émission composée de ces vidéos de 15 secondes postées qui abordent n’importe quel sujet, de la remise d’un prix tel que les Golden Globe aux luttes civiles en Ukraine ou au Venezuela en passant par un lâcher de ballons ou un spectacle d'un artiste de rue en pleine action.

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