Disclaimer
The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent anyone else's view in any way, including those of my employer.
© Copyright 2007
The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent anyone else's view in any way, including those of my employer.
© Copyright 2007
Please note that this is no way a finished idea. I’m sort of mulling this over and expressing it here to get feedback.
Recently a friend asked me why I don’t video blog. She said that she missed the enthusiasm of my face-to-face delivery in my blog. She likes my excitement and thinks that if I video blogged I would be better heard and folks would “know who amazing you are!” This got me thinking. I have a web cam, a good connection etc and certainly videocasting would be quicker than writing because I could just talk through an idea and post it. So why don’t I do it?
Quite simply, I hate the way I look on camera. Is this a stereotypical “girl thing”? I don’t know. But it got me wondering if, in an increasingly visual culture with high speed connections to make audio and video so much easier, if I’m not holding myself back and if people who are more comfortable with their physical image have an advantage over people like me who are a bit more hesitant (beyond the fact that most of the time I’m at my desk I’m in PJs with bed head. Who wants to get cleaned up to sit at their desk?) So I started looking around at the better trafficked blogs to see if, in fact, posting more videos and pics of oneself results in increased traffic.
It’s certain that lots of prominent bloggers are moving toward including more video and images. But I’m stuck in the “chicken and egg” conundrum wondering if we move toward images when we get busy or when our traffic is so high that we need to spice it up, OR do these folks do more video and pics because of who they are. They’re charismatic and interesting so posting rich media is just an extension of how they express themselves.
So I’m generating questions that I want to try to answer
What do you think? Have any experiences with self-image and web 2.0? Any good examples of folks who are succeeding using these methods?
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Good thoughts. One has to wonder just how much influence appearance has on the reception of information by others. Does a blogger/vlogger need to be simply non-repulsive to keep, sustain and build readership/viewership? Or will Kathy Ireland be the only truly successful vlogger in the world?
Here’s another thought on video blogging – how can it fit into a person’s workday? I know I am not alone in that I read blogs on my lunch hour or in between tasks at work. It’s easy to sneak in a bit of text reading. Watching a video is more of a challenge. The video content has to be pretty darn good form me to use my “real” free time to watch.
Pix definitely increase interest. I used to teach folksonomies with del.icio.us – never again. Flickr does the job, with pictures of kittens etc.
Video… I’m not sure. Embedded/linked video probably falls under the header of images, for appeal.
One’s own video work? That takes a lot, lot more time to do, and for results which aren’t that long (or perhaps impressive). Podcasting’s a lot easier to do.
I think a pleasing visual self-representation counts for a lot. We know “lookism” is powerful (one of the central truths of _Frankenstein_), and it probably operates in Web 2.0.
So, call me shallow, but I get a picture in my mind of how a blogger “Looks” by what they are posting, and I have been adversely affected a few times when I see a picture of them. I may take them less seriously after seeing them and dismiss what they are saying. I’m not proud of this…but I think it is a very real and human response. I guess it could work the other way too, but I haven’t found that to be true.
It is a real concern in the weight loss blogging community because so many people are used to being judged for their personal appearances in the real world and feel empowered by being judged by their thoughts and opinions absent that the filter that would be applied to their message if their physical appearance was added to the mix.
I think there is a place for vlogging…but I’ve seen some that are messy and unorganized and they are a waste of time. I find myself wishing for a well written post instead.
I read faster than I listen – plus, video usually requires audio and I’m not always where I can have the audio going. There’s certainly a place for video blogging but I believe that text isn’t going away – especially given the multiple applications of hypertext and other linkages to off-site and/or related information. In other words, the user determines his or her own path. Right now, that’s much more difficult in video although I imagine it will be possible before we know it – but it would probably still take text to scan through and/or organize video to do this.
I have to agree with Kelly: I read faster than I can listen–or someone can talk. In addition, with text, I can skim through a blog post quickly and slow down when and if I get to an interesting part. I can’t do that with a podcast, which is why I usually don’t listen to them, or a video blog.