My interview with Mark yesterday along with his additional response (“Why I Video Blog“) earlier in the week made me think a little bit more about what I really think of video blogging.
And the truth is, I don’t think much of it at all. I very rarely watch the videos and when I do, I find myself drifting off within minutes. I’m not saying that the video content is boring or even that it’s not engaging. It may be both engaging and exciting. It doesn’t matter. I can’t do it.
Part of the reason that I can’t do it is that I’m a quick reader. My wife is always giving me a hard time about how much faster I read than she does. And of course, I give her a hard time about being slow. ;) I can read a post that’s 500 words long in a very short time. How long will it take me to watch a video that has the same content? 5 minutes? Longer? It slows me down.
Quite possibly the biggest reason that I don’t like video blog posts is that I find them to be excessive. What do I mean? I like things concise. Why take 5 minutes to tell me something that could very easily have been summarized in 200 words? I’ll take the summaries thanks. (Mark is very good about adding summaries to his posts. Thanks Mark!)
Want another reason? American broadband sucks. I’ve got a 128kbps connection. I could have a 5mb connection if I wanted to pay twice as much. The kicker here is that the folks in Europe and East Asia pay less and get much, much more. Do you have any idea how long it takes to watch/load a 5 minute video post over a 128kbps connection? Way too long. If the only way that I can get your content is to watch a video, you’ve already lost me. I shouldn’t have to fork over twice as much a month just to get your content. I’ll find someone else that can give it to me in text.
Mark makes a good point. Based on some rudimentary stats, a number of people that is roughly equivalent to half of his readers watch his daily video. That’s pretty good. And for those people, I’m sure that they enjoy getting his content through video. They are people like him that like video. And maybe some day I’ll get that faster connection and find the time to listen/watch a few of his videos. Until then, I’ll be reading the summary below it.
About Shane Ede
I completely agree about the video- it’s a complete waste of my time.
I also agree that if you are going to do video you should do it like Mark @45n5 and provide summaries so the non-video-loving audience get something too.
Complete waste of my time to have watch some goofy looking f—wit spout on about inconsequential crap. If bloggers have to do video at least get some hot babe to entertain us. Can I get a “hell yeah” 😉
“Complete waste of my time to have watch some goofy looking f—wit spout on about inconsequential crap.”
That’s why I don’t create videos. 😉
Absolutely. It’s not that I don’t like video, when I have the time. But if the same info in a five minute video can be wrapped up in a couple hundred word text post, I’ll take the text post every time.
If I’m going to be giving up extra attention to your video, I better be getting something extra in return. That or I’m devaluing my time. With most of the video blogging I stumble across, I’m afraid that’s exactly what I’m doing…
I was actually thinking of beginning video blogging. This was certainly a shocker to read! Haha, I will definitely be reconsidering my approach after this negative response to the video-blog fad that has been stirring up lately
@Jim – I don’t think you should completely abandon it if you want to do it. Certainly give some thought to doing a summary with each video. And if you want to model yourself after a video blogger, you could do a lot worse than Mark at 45n5. In my opinion, for someone like me, he’s doing it just about right.
I have to agree with you. I never watch video blogs because I can always read a post much quicker, the points are written down incause you forget. And i just think it is so much easier to read then to watch.
ROTFL @ Gary,
I don’t detect a note of animosity there do I?
Just wondering. 😉
@Thatedeguy – even if you don’t watch video many of your readers do.
give video a try sometime, many of your readers will really like it, like me 😉
@45n5 – I have given it some thought and it may happen eventually. At the moment, time and resources aren’t available for it.
It’s not completely out of the question. Just not right now.
Stu – not really – if I was going to do Videos, I’d take the 45n5 approach. Mark at least takes on board comments and changes his approach appropriately – well, he does now anyway, he didn’t use to 😉
On my “other” blog (not osworld) I do a video every couple days. But those videos are actually useful – it’s easier for me and the reader/viewer to watch than it is for me/them to write/understand text. The other blog has a high % of non-english readers and so video is the perfect medium for a training (how to) project.
In other words…
Video as a medium is good, but the execution by most bloggers is poor. There’s no point making a video if what you are saying in it can be said by 200 words in a blog post. Whereas if you have a readership that is not able to read your words, or you want to show people “how to” use software (for example), vide cannot be beaten.
I thought I was the only one! Back when YouTube first became a phenomenon, I found myself underwhelmed. I have yet to swept up into video blogging and I doubt I ever will. It just takes too much attention – half the time I’m listening to my iPod while I read blogs, and switching between tabs quite a bit, so they’re basically asking me to put down everything I’m doing and PAY ATTENTION! Kind of an off-putting attitude.