UPDATE: I had an bulb blow out on one of my camera set lights and took a break from video blogging. I have to be honest, its much easier and lazy on my part NOT to do one. Its so much easier to type out a post. I’ve proved myself right, lol.
Why I Video Blog and Think Typing is Disingenuous and Staged
Not everyone has 6 minutes to listen/watch a blog when you could do this quickly in words/graphics. Each to their own but suggest you get your message down to 1/3rd of this time.
I do like both, I tend to think for strategy writing is needed. However video has great power, I also like it that I feel I have just met you properly today as its the first time I have seen you real. Great stuff. Both have their place is my view.
Thanks Bob, Actually I couldnt cut it down, I do free flowing thought posts
and most of the meat pops up at the end as I remember stuff. 2nd people on
average waste 2-3 hours a day on stupid crap, they have plenty of time for 6
minutes of real content. 3rd see my blog post that address’ this type of
thinking:
http://thechrisvossshow.com/social-media-its-about-the-content-duh/ 4th,
like I said programming is fake to me, I free thought some great material on
the videos I wouldve paid millions not to have had to learn the hard way,
and you get them for free.
Thanks
Chris Voss
Great stuff, Chris – interesting to me as I have made my career in video and television production. I have always been a writer as well and feel that sometimes I need the ability to think, reflect and edit my work. I don’t see that as being disingenuous, but I do see your point.
Thanks for the posts – I retweet your stuff a lot because I find it helpful, genuine and sincere. I never thought that posting video and text that goes with it would be insincere, but now I see how that can happen.
The thing is I enjoy writing and see my blog as a natural outlet for something I enjoy. Having said that, I do get your point, and will consider posting some that are video only.
Thanks
Trace
I believe you’re dead wrong. They’re just two different ways of communicating, and two REAL parts of a human being. What a person writes is how they think. You can’t fool people just by spending hours on your writing. Even if you do, investing that amount of time shows your devotion to a topic. This video of yours is an example. I “got” you in about 3 seconds. I don’t need the whole 6 minutes. I’d know you better if you’d have prepared. I’d know you even more if you took the time to write your philosophy in detail.
Comedians “write” their act. Actors mostly get a script. Even documentaries are written ahead of time. Writing is a deep form of communication that I hope our society never loses. I think what you are promoting, in short, is just pure laziness. And that DOES tell me something about you.
Rocky, I’m not talking about communication as the topic, you missed the
point. Its about blogging only. In blogging people profess usually their
ability as an expert. I’m saying if you stage and frame your thoughts on
paper, thats probably not the person I’ll meet and its fake. I want to see
who people are and if they can walk the talk LIVE. Then I may find you an
expert. A retard can write well if you give him enough time and probably
come off as Shakespeare. Meet him in person and he is no expert. That is
my point.
Chris
Chris – interesting take for sure. I see your points and agree with you for the most part…although I think someone can be just as fake or disingenuous on a video, don’t you?
Fake is fake and bullshitters are bullshitters.
I do believe that authenticity and sincerity will win out in the long haul.
And, like you, I think we need more REAL people out here doing the good work, and fewer of the side show clowns promising people things they can’t deliver or talking about subjects they have absolutely no business talking about.
Having said all that, I’m actually getting ready to do more video myself! One, because I like doing it and two, as you mention, I do think that it can capture the personality that may not come through in a written post.
Although, most people say that I tend to write like I talk, so I do have that going for me…
I enjoy your stuff and hope you’ll check out the work I’m doing if you haven’t already.
If you don’t have the time to read anything I’ve done, as I say, they’ll be video soon!
Take care!
MS
I think your rite. FUCK everybody else that disagrees on this comment. It’s funny how the people who don’t agree, also don’t have twitcons or a pic. How funny is that, I mean are they really that ugly. I agree with you, cuz your rite, People copy and paste ALL THE TIME. especially on Twitter.
I do use both and think there’s a place for both written and video. Video for connecting, customer confidence building. However, while video is a time saver for the creator, it is a time consuming medium for the viewer. I can read/scan an article faster than a video. There is the argument that you can have the audio running in the background while you do other things. But then why not do a podcast?
Written articles are more conducive to thoughtful or complex issues that require reflection.
So I say do both depending on the material to be addressed. Thanks for encouraging bloggers to get out of their comfort zone!
Really? Video is ‘real?’ For all we know you could be an incredible actor, Chris. Or quite sincere. I suspect that you are sincere, but my point is one can hide behind a video persona. TV personalities do it all the time. Further, one of the keys to good blogging is to find your own voice and let it come through.
Both mediums have their place and uses – I’d have to agree with Heidi’s sentiments below. I think you are way off base in dismissing the writing of blogs entirely. Some people express themselves better in the written form, some do so verbally. You”re painting with quite the broad brush here.
In the interest if transparency: that is my comment below under the moniker od Social Strategies, the name of my business I was logged into Twitter under my biz profile. 🙂
Fake is as fake does. You can fake it on video or you can fake it on paper. It’s ludicrous to think that it’s better to just turn a video camera on and “wing it” for your audience. That can be just as lame as a corny blog post.
If you want to see who people are and if they can walk the talk “LIVE”, that’s you. Me, I’d rather not have my time wasted by someone who just turns on a camera and rambles on for several minutes until they remember what it is they wanted to say in the first place. Not saying that’s you…I’m just saying.
As for your comment: “people on average waste 2-3 hours a day on stupid crap, they have plenty of time for 6 minutes of real content.” Well, real content is in the eyes and ears of the beholden, yes? What you consider “real content” might bore another person to death in about 40 seconds and make them remember some “stupid crap” they’d rather be doing. I’m not saying that was me…I’m just saying.
My two cents…
Really? You can’t tell about someone’s authenticity through their writing?
If I need something written ala book, copy etc, I am not going to “audition” that via video…
you can free thought just as easily in either format- one is no better than the other depending on the purposes
Wait a minute, I cannot respond with a video, only words. #irony
Hi Chris,
You have a valid point of view on this. However, there is a place for both writing and video on blogs and to say one should only do video is a mistake. I run both written and video posts on my blog and enjoy doing both.
I do tend to prefer written posts because I can scan them faster than I can listen to a video. I do watch parts of occasional videos and get a great feel for the person that as you said you can’t get from words.
I usually write my posts and give them a once over for typos then post. What you get is me and whatever thoughts were important to me at the time.
By the way, I expect many of the videos you see on blogs are carefully scripted before they are recorded.
Excellent post and one that should make us all think.
The “real” comes across via the consciousness of the person communicating-whether the message is sent by video or by text – There is some truth in this: “By their tweets ye shall know them.” and just as much in this “By their videoclips ye shall know them.” But only SOME – dissimulation can be practiced with equal skill through the use of either…Just a thought or two off the top…
Wish the Best to you in both formats!
While I usually like videos, there are two drawbacks as I see it. First, if I see the video is longer than I want to commit at that time, I won’t watch it. Second, as you say, most people don’t spend the time to distill their information down so it’s quite common to see videos that are frankly a waste of time. It’s the same with webinars and teleseminars: if the presenter spends an hour giving me 10 minutes worth of information it’s time wasted and I won’t bother with that person again.
Video is good for a couple of things: it can show people who you really are. While some comments point out that there are very good actors, most people are not – and you see who they really are on video.
Writing allows you to finesse the article/post to the point that it’s distilled to the essence (not that all writers want to, or are capable of that tight editing approach).
And with an article I can scan it quickly to see if I want to read it all the way through. Can’t do that with a video.
Cheers…
Interesting premise, Chris. Is it just because you’re a really bad speller? Kidding! I think there is room for both, but I like to “scan” written materials and you can’t accomplish that with video. Meanwhile, I’m working on some sort of “how to” vids for our packaging materials, so am jumping on the bandwagon. It’s all valuable, if it contains value for the audience.