What is a Podcast: A Simple Explanation

Podcasting has swept the world in a few short years, becoming one of the most popular forms of media. Simply put, it's the act of putting MP3 files on the internet, where people online can find and download them even with just their browser. You might think a podcast is only a simple audio file, but podcasts can easily stand on it own as a form of communication, and it certainly goes beyond the confines of simple audio. The word is also give to video clips that find their way onto the web for public use; the term is getting to be more prominent, but it was originally just a reference to its audio format. It was coined after Apple's MP3 player, the iPod, but it has come to be a more generic term and can mean any MP3 or video file that can be found on the internet.

Keeping that in mind, the large quantity of available channels that offer podcasts on their website is truly spectacular. Online education courses use them in their studies, magazines use them for extra columns, and even businesses are utilizing this new technology with professional interviews and extra web content. It's at the same time an addition to the podcast's given function and an introduction of the technology into the mainstream.

Many podcasts offer an ability to subscribe to them, while still others have created their own virtual "radio show" by podcasting regularly. Podcasters are people who make such regular programs. Podcasts have also seamlessly made their way into marketing, most notably being integrated onto websites as a small video for advertising purposes. Know those tiny videos featuring a face or a person when you're surfing the web? Welcome to podcasting advertisement.

Even major news broadcasting channels have begun using podcasts to add content and spruce up their websites. Politicians use podcasts to plug their views (or lampoon their opponents) on their candidacy sites; this mode of operation has inspired campaigns to hire people to act like a political roadie, following an opponent from place to place hoping to catch a faux pas with a camcorder. The incident will then be uploaded onto the internet within minutes, spreading like a virus to various blogs and websites.

These actions don't stop at just the doorstep of a well-known celebrity. These days everyone is becoming an internet star, sometimes for reasons they'd rather keep secret. Because of the prevalence of mobile phone cameras and other media, the chance for someone's embarrassing moment, such as slipping on the sidewalk, being caught on tape has risen exponentially. It's not uncommon to look around after you tumble down an embankment and wonder if someone has secretly recorded you, because now more than ever it's quite possible they did.

The invention of email brought inevitable change to our society, heralding the dawning of the information age. That brave new world has been turned on its ear again with the podcast, introducing us to the era where social networking is a way of life. For better or for worse, podcasting is here to stay.