The idea started off with a friend joking about using the camera Jennifer Ringley bought to update her website to do a FishBowl cam of a person which pilot the JenniCAM. It started off as still images of her daily life from her webcam to her website where her friends was her main audiences in 1996. It later progress to become a real-time video as the technology evolved. JenniCAM was a worldwide phenomenon for seven years. During this period, she practically lived in front of the camera where she did all the things people would do in their personal life for 24/7. The project was not clear whether it was performance or showcasing every single details of her life. In 2003, she announced that she was shutting her website down since the audience started to die down and on 31 December it was completely gone. From then on Jennifer was practically uncontactable and there seems to have no information of JenniCAM or herself.

Jennifer Ringley started the JenniCAM when she was 19 years old. She was the first artist/ designer/ performer to broadcast her life in front of her Webcam.

JenniCAM is a inspirational and revolutionary real-time broadcast project as I was reading and researching on this. Who would have thought of showcasing their own personal life activities in the 90s where the internet was just starting to take flight or even to think of something extraordinary which was to broadcast live or even show still images of their lives, it was none other than Jennifer Ringley. This project attracted millions of viewers and subscribers where they just watched her life 24/7. I was shocked that so many people would actually watch this. I guess this was something that was fresh since she took a whole new approach to live broadcast where it was more common to see news live during the 90s rather than oneself personal life. 

What impressed me the most about JenniCAM was the courageous act of the 19 years old Jennifer. The act of giving up what I call personal space or life in Jennifer’s case she is willing to expose it to everyone. It would never cross my mind to show everyone how I would lead my personal life as I felt that it was intruding my privacy.

“Because I don’t feel I’m giving up my privacy. Just because people can see me doesn’t mean it affects me – I’m still alone in my room, no matter what.”

Jennifer Ringley. JenniCAM. Credits: http://web.archive.org/web/19980124154026/http://www.jennicam.org:80/faq/general.html

In the quote above, she felt that this project does not give up her privacy means that she viewed it in a different light. I found it interesting because her idea of privacy seems that when people are in the same environment as her and watching her then it means giving up her privacy when millions of people are watching her via the internet.

In JenniCAM the interaction with the audience is through an email where they could make suggestions of what they would want to see or give her feedback of the project. Jennifer would read it and may reply to the emails sent to her but other than that there seems to be not much interaction with the audience via live. I am curious on how the interaction would be like if the technology had allowed the interaction be both ways. But she did change the way of live broadcasting in the present age.

TV show talking about JenniCAM with Jennifer Ringley and David Letterman.

There are many live apps such as Twitter, Facebook where people around the world show their everyday lives. In Korea, many celebrities use the social media: Instagram and V Live to communicate with their fans and to share their personal life. They can see comments by their fans and talk to them via live without having to type back to them. It creates an interaction with the celebrities and fans around the world. 

In China, millions are also broadcasting their personal lives through broadcasting apps ever since the popularity of it. A 19 years old student Nic Li spends 3 to 4 hours streaming online where she talks and sings for her viewers and feels a sense of satisfaction. She likes attention from her audience since she feels lonely and this could be a way to kill boredom and create conversations.

“Sometimes I feel lonely and want to talk to people,” she says. “It feels nice when viewers are paying attention to me.”

Nic Li, 19, China student.
Credits: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ywang/2016/06/02/in-china-millions-are-broadcasting-their-personal-lives-online-including-the-countrys-richest-man/#28a176781a0c

Through one person starting the trend of broadcasting herself live which created an uproar of streaming apps around the world where people openly share their personal life or even chatting with people. If Jennifer Ringley did not start JenniCAM we would not know of such platform of live broadcasting and probably we would not have Facebook Live or other streaming apps. Personally I am impressed by her ongoing live broadcast for 7 years even as technology evolved she tried to keep up with it. Her openness to showcase her life from sleeping to eating to being nude in front of the camera made me respect her courage as I would not been able to do it. She has inspired me to be more open to broadcasting about my life but there are some restrictions I would take such as being nude in front of the camera.