Higher Ed TV: “College Scene Investigation” from USC Aiken, a great way to promote student life activities

August 5th, 2007 by Karine Joly

It looks like The University of South Carolina Aiken has given the keys to some of its current students to produce a very good series of YouTube videos.

I don’t plan to attend college soon, but I got hooked watching the first 4 episodes of “CSI at USC Aiken” - aka College Scene Investigation - in a row.

I’m a fan of the original TV show, but I thought the idea behind these YouTube videos (somebody has just kidnapped the homecoming queen, and the CSI agents are investigating the college scene to meet the demands of the kidnapper) is really clever as it allows to present a lot of information while playing on our intrinsic curiosity and our yearning to find out who dunnit.

Parodies of popular TV shows or movies tend to work well on YouTube as they use a familiar frame sets, which help engage the viewer no matter how good the acting will be (although both USC Aiken CSI agents are pretty good).

The fact that USC Aiken chose to do a series composed of several 4-minute episodes also shows a familiarity with what works on YouTube. Personally, I would have released a single episode at a time and make sure each includes the title of the show at the beginning and screen with credits at the end. A mystery a la lonelygirl15 where viewers would be invited to take part in the investigation by sending questions could also work very well.

How about checking out these videos now?