Maybe a Twitter like approach...20, 30, 40 seconds limit might work.
Good luck.
Video is encoded in HLS and we use Bitdash player that falls back to native players on Android & IOS etc. http://developer.dash-player.com/supported-formats-devices
I agree that the main challenge for us is to get substantial time commitments from the users to create a quality video and post. Most people are not that vocal, but some are - specifically politicians and celebrities.
Twitter started with 140 characters and eventually had to remove the restriction - so not sure if limiting the video length would be helpful. Alternatively, I think 20 sec preview/trailer of the video would be useful in filtering out uninteresting videos.
I see some merit in doing video only based debates & discussions - reduces the chances of abuse & troll via anonymous and coward text comments. More often, useful comments are lost in sea of useless and irrelevant comments.
Why not serve HTML video to everyone?
I wonder if scanning video for problematic content will be easier than text, e.g. 1/2 seconds of sexual content sprinkled in a five minute video may require watching the entire thing.
