Whoever came up with Live Video is an Evil Genius!

One of the tools used to engage fans of Shadowhunters is live videos. In my head I call them “pop-up videos” because you never know when they are going to happen. They kinda just happen with no or limited warning. You have to be diligent and watch for notifications, which can happen on any of a number of social media sites.

Some apps allow you to set notifications before an individual begins a live video, but that’s in the moment. What if you’re in the middle of class, and your app says – Hey! Dominic Sherwood just started a live video? I mean, if there was advanced warning, you might have thought about skipping class to watching this video. Not that I’m advocating skipping class.

Go to school!

Many fan accounts will re-post notifications for live videos – so if it happened on Instagram, you can still find out about it on Twitter. It’s helpful because keeping track of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat is a full time job.

Not a paying full time job.

Momma needs money for her fancy house, expensive cars and extravagant vacations.

None of which I have.

I LOVE the concept of the random live-video because it requires you to be engaged all the time.

Live video applications also give fans the opportunity to interact with the actors by allowing them to post questions or comments. I admit, many of them are silly. Lots of “I love you” and “say hi to me in <insert geographic location here>!” But sometimes fans have some great questions and the actors answer them. They might be about the actors or about the show – if the actor likes the question and can read them (they tend to fly by), then they may answer them. It can be rewarding, especially if your question gets noticed.

The videos themselves can be short or long - a few minutes or up to 40 minutes, depending on the actor’s schedule and how interactive the fans are. You never know what you’re going to get, which makes it all the more important to watch when it happens.

But let’s be honest.

ShumDario News is a great fan resource!

We can’t sit online all hours of the day waiting for someone to host a live video.

There are things to do.

I mean, right now I should be doing laundry, but I’m SACRIFICING my laundry time to be with you.

It’s big of me, I know.

Anyway, it’s inevitable that you’re going to miss a few live videos. But don’t despair. Many sites allow users to post their video after the fact. That way, those fans who missed out can watch it later. For those instances when the site doesn’t keep the video, there is STILL HOPE!

There are a number of fan accounts that go out of their way to record live videos as they happen. That way, if you miss the video or are in that awkward predicament of being in class when the video happens, you can still check it out on YouTube. Shadowhunters has the best fans!

I also love live videos because they give you that sense of common experience.

The first one that I watched was one of Dominic Sherwood, it seemed like in an apartment. I learned that he had a girlfriend named Sarah. He also has a good friend named Daryl. I felt like I took part in a conversation with Dom even though it was rather one-sided.

I also caught part of a live video with Matthew Daddario on Valentine’s Day. Seriously. It seemed like he gave 10 minutes warning about his noon time live stream. Which happened around noon. Noon! I was at work! Kids were in the midst of school! Matt doesn’t tend to share as much about himself, but he does hold an engaging live video. Most recently, he hosted a live video where he talked a lot about plants. He suggested everyone should go on Twitter and @ all of the show’s actors, telling them which plant they were. So now we’re all participating in a group activity because of his video!

Live videos also allow me to differentiate between the character and person. I don’t think of Dominic Sherwood as Jace – those are two different entities. Likewise, Harry Shum Jr isn’t just Magnus to me. I think that’s important not just for me, as the viewer, but for the actor as well. He or she had the opportunity to share who with their fans. When the day comes that Shadowhunters is no longer a show (I mean, a day WAY in the future), then hopefully their fans will follow them to their next acting opportunity.

Because without fans there wouldn’t be a show.