YourTrumanShow launches social visual video discovery tool

You know the warp feature on YouTube that's been kicking around for a while? Well video community YourTrumanShow has launched a similar tool this morning in the form of a Facebook app that lets you view your network of friends in a large array, and watch videos they've uploaded to various services without leaving the page.

Like YouTube's implementation, each video has its own collection of related clips, creating a large Web of videos that you can navigate around like an online map. You're also able to meet new social networking buddies based on your shared taste of online clips, or simply see who else has watched or bookmarked what you're viewing.

For non-Facebook users, the company is planning to launch an OpenSocial version to plug into other social networks including MySpace and Bebo. The data will be cross pollinated, meaning you'll be able to browse and watch videos with the same group of people from wherever you're accessing the app. Currently there's support for YouTube and clips on YourTrumanShow, although there are plans to add other content hosts in the future.

The idea sprang from a similar implementation seen on the YourTrumanShow site. As shown off at the DemoFall 2007 show back in September, the service will visualize user interaction with a video, from commenting to video replies using lines and thumbnails. In comparison, YouTube separates each of those into its own subcluster.

While the visuals look snazzy, for comparison's sake I found the tool to be a little less intuitive or engaging than YouTube's warp feature; although I do appreciate that YourTrumanShow makes you click on things before exploding with little video thumbnails. I'm also a little confused to see any company launch advanced functionality on someone else's service instead its home site, because YourTrumanShow's existing linking technology is very rich but could benefit from this exploratory option.