Wednesday, September 6th, 2006...12:31 pm by Leroy Brown
Video Blogging - the Future?
Everywhere you look, more and more people are jumping aboard the video blogging bandwagon. Matt Cutts, Google’s own SEO expert, has done quite a few video blog posts lately. Just this morning, I read a post at Problogger about blogging tutorials - in video format, called Tubetorial. Some are saying that video blogging is the future of blogging, and that one day that will be the only way to read blogs.
I think that video blogging is more of a fad, or perhaps a niche market. Some people do enjoy the personalization that video blogging offers - so I’m fairly certain that video blogging is here to stay. However, I’m not convinced that there’s a big market for these types of blogs. You are probably wondering why I say this. Why would a person rather read paragraphs rather than watch an entertaining video? Don’t more people watch the news rather than read the newspaper?
Video blogging, by it’s very nature, isn’t a very friendly format. For example - I cannot watch video blog posts from my Treo smartphone - that’s a real problem. Often that’s how I access my RSS reader, or individual blogs. You Tube and Google Videos don’t yet work on many mobile devices, and certainly not efficiently. I also cannot view video blog posts at work. Let’s face it - many people spend some of their work day doing personal things - such as reading blogs. Video and sound do not lend themselves to inconspicuousness. ( I think that’s the biggest word I’ve ever used in a sentence. ) For those people not fortunate enough to have internet access at home, video blogs are not very appropriate for places like public libraries, and other public internet access areas.
In closing, video blogging is an interesting trend - but it’s not the future of blogging. Good old fashioned text is - because it works.
8 Comments
September 8th, 2006 at 7:03 am
I have been thinking these exact same things. I think the market for video blogs will always be smaller than the market for text blogs.
September 8th, 2006 at 7:42 am
Exactly - the market is very much a niche one. I’m not saying that it should go away - some sites do well with it, like Rocketboom, but I really don’t see video blogging going mainstream.
February 16th, 2007 at 5:37 am
Hm, I would have to disagree there. The reason is because I think smartphone technology will improve enough to enable video blogs to come through smoothly. Its just a matter of a few years and improved compression technology. As for not watching blogs at work on lunchbreak or at the public library….just bring some headphones to plug in so no one else hears.:)
February 16th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
So what happens when you’re sitting there at your desk, with headphones on, listening to and watching this video blog, and your boss walks up behind you? Now of course, if you didn’t have headphones on and were reading a normal blog post, you would have heard him coming and clicked off to something else.
Fact is, most people have day jobs, and aren’t allowed to fiddle with podcasts and video blogs and the like, while they’re at work. But they can read normal blog posts just fine. That’s why normal blogging will remain the mainstream, and the norm.
February 16th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
Leroy,
Thats why I said do it on your lunch break. Of course you don’t do it while you’re working! And for that matter even reading a blog would distract someone from their work. I would assume that people have some common sense as to when they check up on a blog, video or otherwise. So on that note, I’d still have to disagree with you on that one. I think video blogging will become more of a force in the future, especially with the increasing use of broadband based television.
February 16th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
I guess I look at things a little differently than most.. I don’t get an actual lunch break at work, so to speak. I have maybe 5 minutes to devour some food, and immediately return to work.
Of course, while I’m working, I can sneak in a little blogging / commenting, but videos are a definite no-go for me.
If your job is lenient toward that sort of thing, then I can see you being able to watch during lunch, with the headphones.
February 16th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Five minutes?! Wow….they owe you way more than that man. At least an hour if you’re working full time? Then again, I don’t know what the nature of your work is. But anyhow, you have a point there. Its all circumstantial. Thats where it would be nice to have web tv come through on the phone. It would allow for someone to check up on any type of blog without divulging too much to the boss.
February 16th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
Well I work 6 days a week, about 55-60 hours total. At 5 minutes a day, that’s a solid 30 minutes per week to eat lunch… not so bad.
It could be worse - I used to work 80-90 per week, and had to fit in lunch and dinner at work. That, my friend, is no fun at all
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