Popular ESPN sports reporter and blogger Erin Andrews is making headlines once again, this time for a unauthorized online video that shows her naked in her hotel room via peephole. From Manolith “Erin Andrews Peephole“
I’ll be honest, I’m not a huge sports fan, actually I’m not a sports fan at all. I enjoy the World Cup when it comes around, but obsessively following your favorite sports team and players always seems like a huge waste of bandwidth to me.
That being said, I do waste a ton of bandwidth (both literally and figuratively) tracking online trends. Â During my travels ESPN reporter Erin Andrews has come up several times. Usually it involves how inappropriately hot she is, other times she’s getting hit in the face with objects.
Her latest online trend with this peephole video is going down in classic style. The nature of the content, and target audience isn’t hard to break down. I could unwrap the demographic like an onion, but it would likely offend a few of you. So instead let’s go through the typical life cycles of this type of juicy digital content.
- Birth: These types of photos or videos are usually first published by some random site few people have heard about. The domain name is almost always horrible and difficult to spell. In this case it was NSFWpoa.com.
- First Shots: Almost right away this site is hit hard by lawyers representing the party involved. Because these blogs are usually small home based operations they cave, who wants to get sued to death after all?
- The Great Hunt: Once the original source removes the material, the hunt is on. Word begins to spread about its existence and the desperate masses converge trying to find those illusive copies. In almost every case, content like this is copied locally by someone, somewhere. It’s just not hosted anywhere yet. This forces users to go into a “deep search”, hitting some 10-20 sites in the process.
- Opportunity: As major news outfits break the news, the spammers and adsense opportunists come out in droves. They create a huge network of performance focused (read: shit ton of ads) blog posts and lure in eager clickers. Done right they can easy bring in 100,000 or more visitors. They almost never include the actual content people are looking for.
- Re Birth: Once a risky piece of content hits the net it will never disappear completely. It may not be easy to find but it’s out there. It lives on questionable file-sharing sites like RapidShare, in BitTorents and of course the dark corners of IRC. Those with the dedication (there is no shortage) will eventually find what they are looking for, satisfy the need and move on. In the process they begin to share the content with a broader audience through back channels. They use email, IM services and the classic “Hey dude, come over here and check this out” modes of distribution.
- Retirement: Eventually (within 1-2 weeks) interest in the content dies down. Those who wanted to see it have, others have just given up. The content continues to get long tail like exposure, but never like its initial buzz.
- Reincarnation: Hooray! There is life after death, even for content. Down the road (even years later) an event will trigger renewed interest in a video like this. This usually happens in the form of a radio broadcaster rehashing the story during a show. Howard Stern is probably the best known trigger for something like this.
So there you have it, a snapshot of what this video will go through. To those who landed here looking for the actual video I apologize. See Opportunity above, oh and happy hunting.
Tweet

Sean Percival is an internet entrepreneur based in Los Angeles, California.

July 21st, 2009 at 9:08 pm
Great rundown. Simple, and to the point! Now, where’s the video… :P
July 22nd, 2009 at 3:32 pm
It’s amazing how far people will take things! Plus this is a violation of the law…i mean, whoever was the peeping fellow..here’s an idea: BUY A MAGAZINE!! Geesh.
July 23rd, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Is there any websites left that are showing the Erin Andrews fiasco?
September 2nd, 2009 at 3:01 am
Erin Andrews goes into a Male sport and thinks she is in control wake up and smell your coffee. If you don’t like the tratment go back to your kitchen and have babies
October 3rd, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Don, you’re a friggin idiot. She is a reporter, not “in a male sport.” This is an issue of invation of privacy. These were photos taken through a peephole while she was in her hotel room. Why don’t you understand the issue and understand what you are talking about before commenting. Otherwise, STFU.
October 30th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
I appreciate your posting.
October 31st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Hey there my friend usually I don’t post on many blogs these days, but I would like to let you know that this post really forced me to do so! Keep up the good work my friend, I love your blog & your style of writing!
December 4th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
I ordinarily don’t placement in Blogs but your blog mandatory me to, amazing bring about.. Thankfulness you beautiful …
December 18th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
thats perfect info!
December 23rd, 2009 at 4:07 am
Excellent blog with lots of useful information Are there any forums that you recommend I join
January 29th, 2010 at 4:39 am
Hi all, try out best insider betting service available in Europe. Get infos directly from our Balkan contacts. You can get even get free membership – limited offer don’t miss it. http://www.balkan-insiders.co.nr
February 9th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
good good…this post deserves nothing …hahaha just joking :P …nice post :P
March 7th, 2010 at 11:14 pm
You post certainly was one of the greatest points of my Wednesday. I had been on Askjeeve researching something entirely unrelated when your title caught my attention. I sure am glad I took the time to read your post! Feel free to check out my sport articles if you get some free time!
March 17th, 2010 at 8:02 am
[...] website with law suits and worse. It’s unclear if the video in question actually does show Erin Andrews, but one things for sure, it won’t be making its rounds on the web anytime soon.var f42_host [...]
March 17th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
[...] correspondent Erin Andrews was hit by a foul ball courtesy of New York Mets player Alex Cora. The highly popular and [...]
March 18th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
Id say this article saved me hours nad explains everythign it says it does
March 21st, 2010 at 9:07 am
its only tits
March 25th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
I really like youtube but it can have some bad points. Like with copyright and things.
May 26th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
This is my first convenience life i stop in here. I found so many enchanting stuff in your blog singularly its discussion. From the tons of comments on your articles, I judge I am not the just individual having all the enjoyment here! remain up the tolerable work.
June 6th, 2010 at 8:20 am
I really like the way your write, thank you and have a great day.
June 14th, 2010 at 2:04 am
Nice article, nice blog, I have bookmarked your blog, it is worthy doing this. Thank you.
September 20th, 2010 at 11:42 am
Ici ou ailleurs, les réponses seront surement sujettes à controverse.
December 11th, 2010 at 5:47 pm
Very cool work
December 28th, 2010 at 4:23 am
Is Blogengine acquiring a serious upgrade rapidly? I listen to that they have been doing so to battle off wordpress 3.0 – just curious whenever you had listen to no matter?
February 5th, 2011 at 5:43 pm
Excellent goods from you, man. I’ve understand your stuff previous to and you are just too fantastic. I actually like what you have acquired here, really like what you’re saying and the way in which you say it. You make it entertaining and you still take care of to keep it wise. I can not wait to read far more from you. This is actually a tremendous site.
February 17th, 2011 at 10:08 pm
Wonderful goods from you, man. I have understand your stuff previous to and you are just extremely excellent. I really like what you’ve acquired here, really like what you are stating and the way in which you say it. You make it enjoyable and you still take care of to keep it smart. I can not wait to read much more from you. This is actually a great web site. my website is about massey shoes. would like some feedback if possible
July 25th, 2011 at 8:33 am
This subject and your writeup on this subject very exciting, I am quite able to read your review about this page as well as make the actual insights associated with my understanding grew and I am sure other readers accept me. This also time okay continue to receive other ideas. Thanks.
August 5th, 2011 at 3:03 pm
I like the valuable information you provide in your articles. I’ll bookmark your blog and check again here frequently. I’m quite sure I’ll learn a lot of new stuff right here! Best of luck for the next!
August 8th, 2011 at 4:14 am
Thanks for another informative site. Where else could I get that type of information written in such a perfect way? I have a project that I am just now working on, and I’ve been on the look out for such information.