Stroome.com is, as they say, the world’s most collaborative video editing community. There are so many interesting things you can do on Stroome and here are few: you can upload and remix your video, audio and photos. You can also create your own group for people with same or similar interest. And besides that, you can add and change your video by adding text, transitions, photos and music.

Thanks to Tom Grasty for sharing his time with us and giving us more info about Stroome.

1. How did Stroome get the name?

We wanted a name that could work as both a noun and a verb. Much in the same way people now say, “Google it,” we want people to say, “Stroome me,” when they have great content they want to share. It just so happens ‘Strome’ is the Dutch verb that means ‘to move freely,’ which is exactly what we want our site to facilitate— the movement of ideas, points of view and content between people. We fussed with the spelling a bit, but the underlying meaning is still there.

2. Who made Stroome?

Believe it or not, the initial concept for Stroome came from a talking fish. Co-founder Nonny de la Peña was asked to write a story about how most fish communicate with sounds for the New York Times Science section. Knowing that most people would want to see and hear a fish talk, Nonny wanted to produce an accompanying web video. The problem was that, as is too often the case, she was on a short deadline with no budget. She lost time waiting for video tapes to be sent overnight; lost time waiting for file conversations from scientists sending video in incompatible formats; lost time uploading cuts to the editors in New York. As a result, everyone had to work until the last minute. And although the piece made the top ten most-emailed list at the Times, she realized there had to be a better way. The answer was Stroome.

3. For which audience is Stroome intended?

Right now, our target market is students in journalism, film and digital media schools because there’s a real need for a free, browser-based video editing tool in the classroom. Our ultimate goal, however, is for people to think of Stroome as a place where anyone with a camera and a point of view can work with like-minded friends and colleagues to polish, publish and promote their content to a potential audience of millions. This is why we think it’s such an important, and relevant, tool for the citizen journalist.

4. What do you think will be the most popular on Stroome— audio, video or photo?

We consider ourselves a video editing site first and foremost. So the short answer is probably video. Fortunately, however, we can accommodate all types of media.

5. Considering your offer – shoot, stream, slice and share – does it mean that every person can easily report about fresh events with Stroome?

Absolutely. Because Stroome provides the tools for pushing that content across the web and hosts forums that allow the community to help each other in creating polished and professional content, the sense of community and collaboration will make the tool accessible to everyone. Whether it’s a small group of journalists working to get out a story quickly, or a community remixing pieces to reflect their point of view, Stroome is unique in focusing on visual journalism as a participatory process.

6. What is the connection between Stroome and citizen journalism?

Hopefully, it’s growing. Over the last few weeks, we’ve really been getting out there and letting citizen journalism sites — News Me Back, Ground Report, All Voices, Demotix, Newsvine and ProPublica — know the platform is available. And the response has been incredible. The Tiziano Project is perfect example. Dedicated to expanding knowledge and access to information worldwide by empowering communities with unique story-telling tools, the Tiziano Project will soon be deploying Stroome in war-torn Congo so that community members can report their stories and improve their lives.

7. What do you think about citizen journalism?

For a long time mainstream news organizations have paid lip service to the notion of ‘citizen journalism.’ But now, it seems, they are walking the walk. They understand that if the right platform can be created that facilitates news aggregation, then costs can be lowered as more stories are being covered at a hyper-local level. The paradigm is shifting, and we hope that Stroome will play a part in that shift. And in many ways we already are. In fact, just last fall we won the Audience Award at the Online News Association for best new start-up in the digital news space.

8. What is your opinion about the future of citizen journalism?

I don’t think it’s going to fall completely into either a ‘citizen’ or a ‘journalism’ bucket. It’s going to be a hybrid. Yes, technology has democratized everything –- including how the news is gathered — but most people still get their news from traditional news sources. So the future of citizen journalism will, in my opinion, largely be determined by how David and Goliath find a way to accentuate and compliment one another’s best features.

9. Considering Stroome is totally free, do you have some advertising model?

We haven’t ruled anything out. But the key in the growth of any disruptive technology like ours is letting people use it. And the best way to do that is to let them experience the platform for themselves. Fortunately, we have a few partners who are helping us put Stroome in the hands of people like the contributors of News Me Back.

10. Where do you see Stroome in the future?

Clearly you saved the toughest question for last. It’s tough to say. But this much I do know. With a collaborative platform like ours it’s what the community does with Stroome that will shape the future. We’re just the catalyst.

This is a quick video that shows how Stroome works :

Tags: collaborative, community, Stroome, video editing