Kotivideon

Kotivideon is a Finnish term used to describe home video recordings and the culture surrounding them. In everyday Finnish, kotivideo refers to video captured at home with consumer camcorders or video cameras, and kotivideon denotes the possessive/genitive usage when referring to such material, as in kotivideon arkistointi (archiving home video). The concept covers both physical media—VHS tapes, camcorder tapes—and the content produced for private viewing, family documentation, or informal sharing among relatives.

Etymology: The word kotivideo combines koti ('home') and video, and kotivideon is the genitive singular form used in phrases like "kotivideon arkistointi" or "kotivideon tallennus" in Finnish.

Usage and history: The term gained prominence with the spread of inexpensive consumer video equipment in the late 20th century. Finnish households began producing and preserving family events on VHS and later on DVD. Media outlets discussed the phenomenon in relation to personal memory, accessibility, and copyright considerations. Archivists and libraries sometimes referenced kotivideon as a category of user-generated audiovisual heritage.

In the digital era, kotivideon has broadened to include digitized tapes, personal video files, and online sharing of home videos via cloud services and social platforms. The term remains common in Finnish-language discourse on home media, preservation, and media literacy.

See also: home video, VHS, DVD, video archiving.