Every time I read about a new video blogging tool coming out, I get bombarded with comments from people who simply hate it, and I can’t figure out why.
Today, my friend Steve Rosenbaum, CEO of Magnify.net got a nice write up in TechCrunch and Centernetworks about his new video blogging tool.
Check out some of these comments on that article. The world hates video bloggers?
No offense Michael, Om, or Scoble, but do you guys really need to be seen? These bloggers, (the good ones) are writters, not actors or news anchors. This is a very smart bunch of guys but not a particularly good looking bunch.
Who the heck is going to watch all that stuff?
Who cares what others say, unless they keep delivering really good content – CONSISTENTLY!
There will be several celebrities, and the others will have their “genious†videos wait for the super-bored viewer, who will click on them just to watch something to kill the boredom. ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
As I said in those same comments, avoid online video at your own peril. You may hate video blogs, but to downplay the power of online video as a communication method for business or personal use is something you will regret in the future.
Interesting post. I believe the only reason people hate video blogging is because they have a mug only a momma could love:)
Video is the killer delivery model. It is far more personable and people are so lazy that they would rather watch then read.
Now send me that Digital Flip….
Jim,
The reasons noted for not video blogging are also the key to their appeal. Video bloggers are not news anchors with airbrushed make up, reading from teleprompters. Real people have the opportunity to connect with people in a medium that was once inaccessible. I resisted for years putting a photo with my online profiles or blogs incorrectly believing that people only want to see drop dead gorgeous models. I was wrong. People respond to being able to connect a voice with a real person. I happen to “hate” much of reality TV but I cannot deny it’s popularity. Some may hate video blogging as much as the long (or really long) sales letter but both are effective for a reason.
Karen
I enjoy reading more than watching TV. that is the simple reason that i would prefer to read a blog rather than watch a guy saying what he has to say. Also a lot of people are far more eloquent and articulate in print than in an extempore version of what they have to say. So unless someone has a real and exceptional talent in that direction, i think video blogging is best avoided.
I actually regret that I wasted so much time on online video. It’s one thing to watch reality TV from the comfort of your living room, on your plasma TV…. it’s quite different to watch a crappy video with crappy audio at your desk when you’d rather read the article so you can get to the point, not to mention the video looked bad enough at 15 fps and 320×240 resolution, let alone the 415×360 (approx) resolution Youtube uses.
Plus, Google doesn’t readily index video.
Watching boring fat guys talking crap for 20 minutes is so unappealing. Give me a concise witty blog post I can read in 1 minute anyday.
Check out some of the thoughts from Shel on this blog post, good stuff.
http://redcouch.typepad.com/weblog/2007/12/does-the-world.html
If you were to transcribe 20 minutes of ad libbing blogger, edit out all the “ums” and “ahs” , edit out any redundancy, tighten up the wording to make the points more clear, then what you have is a few good paragraphs (aka: a blog post). I can read it in a few minutes. I can skim it to see if I *want* to read it in a few seconds.
Or, I could spend that time waiting for YouTube to spool in the hope that the resulting video is something I might actually want to see, and 4 out of 5 times realizing halfway in that I’ve wasted my time…
I read because I’m lazy. To often it seems that video bloggers don’t write because they’re too lazy to edit.
I’m much like the previous comment authors – I’d rather read a well-written article than a lengthy video. Firstly, my laptop’s almost always in the lounge, and the TV’s almost always on. Having a video playing is distracting for others (sure, I *could* use headphones).
And, secondly, with a video playing, it’s harder to multi-task (not really a good thing, but it’s a habit of mine).
Anyway, most of the blog vids I’ve seen don’t have much in terms of visual activity and are more suited as podcasts.
Oh, I also forgot to mention that I do believe that video communication is an important part of the future. But, at the moment, I just don’t find it that important.
I personally think video blogging has its advantages and disadvantages. It can be good for viewers to actually hear and see who is behind the blog and get to know the blogger a little better. However, video blogging can be seen as a quick way to update your site without taking the time to write an article. Its also not so good for SEO purposes…Google can’t index video and rank you high…it needs content!