Broadcasting with Y! Live and uStream.tv

User generated content, and more specifically, user-generated live streaming content continues to evolve (and hog bandwidth, but that's another story).

I first came across uStream.tv a few months ago and now Yahoo! has started a service it calls Y! Live, still in beta.

Armed with a desktop PC or laptop, high-speed Internet connection, and a Webcam, one can broadcast live across the Web as though one's bedroom or basement were a TV studio. So the video and audio quality are not high-definition, but start-ups, like uStream.tv, and established companies, such as Yahoo!, are entering the live streaming, broadcasting arena, hoping to attract users and would-be Web show hosts.

In keeping with the Web 2.0 ideals of collaboration and community-building, these websites offer the opportunity for users to create and share their online content and build communities of viewers, who can participate and transform the production from a one-way street (I produce, You watch) to a two-way street (We produce, We watch).

Even if you do not consider yourself ready for Web Prime Time, visit these websites and think about what could they offer your projects, your professional field, your company, your institution.