Jennicam - Real Lifecasting on the Web 10 years later

Ten years ago, Jennifer Ringley started a website in where she placed cameras around her house and let them go 24/7. No matter where she was, what she was doing, Jennicam was to be there, too.

The site started on April 14th 1998 and went almost non-stop until Dec 31, 2003 when Jennifer moved to CA. But before she closed shop, Jennicam made a big impact with video on the web.

Jennicam wasn’t her first webcam effort, however it was her biggest. Jennifer created what was called “Lifecasting” and soon was followed by many. Some used it for more pornographic means. Others wanted to “document” their lives and have people go to a website so they could make money off donations and advertisements.

Justincam (http://justin.tv/), ijustine (http://justin.tv/ijustine) Sarah Meyers (http://sarahmeyers.net/) are also Lifecasters. While they don’t run 24/7, they all have a celebrity status when they are online.

There are a series of Lifecasts at justin.tv, and anyone can get their own channel going at Mogulus, Yahoo Live Broadcast or ustream.tv. Geekazine can be concidered a lifecast as well (http://live.geekazine.com). Even though the cameras are not on me 24/7, you always get video of something. Chris Pirillo (http://live.pirillo.com) and Bwana McCall (http://bwana.tv) are other forms of “lifecasting”.

Everything from talking to the public to showing what you are playing on your XBox or PS3, lifecasting is a big part of the web. and it’s partly because of Jennifer Ringley and Jennicam.

Jennifer does not have a website, webcam or even a MySpace page nowadays. She stays low key and likes it. But her efforts helped bring the web to where it is today. So thanks Jennicam.