Interesting and provocative post.

I believe too many people are driving their blog needles into the instant gratification zone for themselves and their readers.

Too many pictures/video, not enough critical thinking, text and plain good story-telling.

I agree :)

It’s always hard to pick what might work best in a vlog episode, or just a post, or just a twitter… etc. It’s important to choose though, it does make a difference.

What was the point of putting that photo of yourself at the beginning of this post?

Ah…does there have to be a point?

No.

Does one have to choose what tool they will use?

No.

They will choose the tool that they are most comfortable with.

Chris Brogan-a big virtual Hi 5 for Clip It-woot-already locked and loaded in Firefox. Matt-good point, been making an effort to shift from the former to the latter with my newest blog. Helps when Brogan rolls up on you and lays some ‘new media” common sense suggestions on you too.

[…] 28th, 2007 My friend Chris Brogan posted a great article in his blog about the difference between Video, Audio and text for content […]

There’s a proper tool for every job, and you outline them well. It’s about using the right tool at the right time that is tricky for some- and as consultants, we need to make sure we’re steering clients in the right direction. Blogs might not be the one sole tool for everyone, but perhaps an adjunct to audio or video; audio podcasts are good for audio learners- for example, I’m producing some podcasts for some medical folks. Whis material is best presented in audio-cliff notes style and wouldn’t really play as well as video or a “how to” without looking like an episode from ER. These are also folks who don’t need to blog, but the blog works well as an easy way to host and manipulate website.

So in the zeal to make money and maintain clients, let’s also not make ourselves indispensible, but give our clients the tools to meet their endpoints and let them maintain it. Let’s face it- they’re going to need our help anyway, and best to give’ em as much independence as possible so we can take on other clients as well. Right tool for the right person at the right time is the name of the game.

Well, of course I like text, images, audio and video - each has their own place within the context of the story.

I’m focused more on the “next generation”.

What do I mean by that? Well, simply put, all of the content that were producing today, won’t have very much meaning if it’s all out-of-context when our kids find it 5 or 10 years from now.

An example might be that someone has 35 pictures of a 1968 Camaro on Flickr. Yeah, that’s great, but if nobody ever used one of those pictures as part of a larger story, then it really isn’t worth finding, is it?

But what if those pictures were used on a blog somewhere, and finding the first picture would then lead you to your local chapter of the Camaro Cruisers Club? Well, then it has some more merit, or worth. At least in my book it does.

So there’s the rub - we have all these online tools, each one becomes an island unto itself. Only the people can build the bridges between them.

I guess that is a good point, and a reason not to be upset that there are not too many people adopting what were doing right now (podcasting, video blogging, blogging, etc.) We still need to build several thousand more bridges in order for the masses to easily find their way.

Bridge Builders of the Web - UNITE!

(I should have posted this *AFTER* my 2nd cup of coffee)

;-)

You’re right on.

Text allows you to quickly search and locate areas of interest. Text then allows you to quickly filter what may be of interest to you on a deeper level.

At that point having access via audio as an additional option makes sense because it will allow you to consume the info on a more meaningul level and also (as you mention) listen while you’re commuting or doing something that you’re also comfortable wearing headphones (ie: jogging, gardening, walking the dog, cleaning out your garage, etc) Press Release podcasts make alot of sense as an additional option to text.

Video becomes an option when the content can be delivered in a more impactful way while the viewer is (somewhat) stationary. Sitting on a bus or train watching a video iPod works if you’re really into the content. Casual viewing while watching a clip on the computer works great provided it’s not too long. The holy grail for video podcasts is the IPTV. That is why you will begin to see more women as video podcast hosts, because it tends to retain the male audience (RocketBoom, Amanda Congdon’s show, WallStrip, French Maid TV, Tiki Bar TV, etc)

Have been wanting to articulate this.

You, friend, have done it for me, for all who seek to communicate, share, and learn in the new, rapidly evolving web media.

My latest VtG post is “multiple channel messaging is mandatory”, a brief inspirational pitch on joining as many socnets as possible. I need to add: then decide which are right for you, which are trivial or don’t have the functionalities you need.

Video and audio are not parse-able.

Video and audio tend to be long-winded, boring, tangential.

But text cannot show product in use solving problem or enhancing life of user.

Text can also be longwinded and tangential.

We must master all forms of current and emerging communication platforms, or our competitors will.

http://twitter.com/vaspers

Oh, with a nobby nod to pal Loren Feldman, who taught me web video, video can humanize a blogger, put a smirking face and nervous twitching body in motion to our profile.

Audio can also humanize and personalize our blogs.

Be sure to display 1. time duration 2. title 3. text summary or bullet points

P.S. You forgot the #1 benefit of Audio: it enables you to absorb information while you’re jogging, exercising, driving your car, etc. … which you cannot do with text or video.

I dl the Calacaniscast podcasts, then burn them to CD (Jason needs to keep them at

Something wrong with text entry box here.

Part of comment got chopped off last comment.

…at less than (I used the less than symbol, which is why the comment got truncated) 40 minutes each, so I can get 2 podcasts on a CD.

Don’t forget: your audience might also need multiple avenues into your brand. I myself don’t listen to much audio — if I have the time, I’d prefer to watch video — but I eat up quick text bursts and photos. There’s something to be said for utilizing ALL forms of communication effectively within your message / brand / experience.

Anyone doing that yet? It seems like most of us are more monomedia than multimedia, with exceptions.

I’m ill in bed, so not at my sharpest… you’re right about certain types of content being more suited to one medium than another, but it seems to me that you’ve left out the huge factor of talent/aptitude - call it what you will - of the creator for each medium.

You (Chris Brogan) are multiskilled - you’re very good at text, audio and video, so you can do all three interestingly and charismatically. Some people who are articulate on a podcast might not be able to write very engagingly, nor have a sense of what works well on video and what doesn’t.

The same goes for people who are good writers - it doesn’t mean they’ll be as suited to speaking or vlogging.

I’m the video version of this. RL friends have told me that my film & tv experience helps me make my videoblog work, and that i can make little films that would have been boring or poorly executed if they’d tried.

I’ve always replied that I’m not so sure - I’ve been trying to strip away everything formal and structured, using my phone to capture, cut and post moments as they happen. So I don’t know how much ’skill’ comes into play.

But I suspect that not many of my viewers would listen to me for long on a podcast or subscribe to my text blog.

I’m not very articulate when speaking seriously at length on a subject. God knows, I’ve tried. I have spent the past week trying to do to-camera verbal videos about stuff in my life right now that I want to share. But I trip over my words and get lost on tangents (not in a good way). So I’ve had a week where I’ve recorded 1-2 hrs of material, without posting anything.

Similarly, I am unable to *write* about “stuff” succinctly (uh, can you tell?), so I think I would be a poor text blogger.

So I’ll just keep plugging away with my inconsequential little films, sharing bits of my life from my phone… and probably not working too much with audio or text.

Which means that some things that I want to do, I won’t be able to, because they’re not suited to my chosen medium. But I guess I’d rather do that one thing well than waste time trying to tell people about other stuff, poorly.

Finally, though, I’m luckly in that I don’t have an agenda, a format or a message to share. If it was my job, I guess I’d try harder to work on the other skills, to maximize my reach and make content in the medium that’s appropriate to it.

Is it possible that all three forms are the right tool to use?

I find myself in that school.

I am fascinated with video, experienced with audio and like the ease of writing.

So, could it be that all three will lead me to the path of my promised land?

Sorry, Chris, but on this subject I am going to have to respectfully disagree with you. The medium does not make the message, and we shouldn’t have to master half a dozen delivery methods in order to convey said messages.

There are very few subjects that specifically mandate a particular format. We as a species survived thousands of years on written words alone. Some of the greatest creative works in history were simply “text” spawned from no more than a quill full of ink and a cheaply-bound notebook, so let us not be so quick as to toss the written word over the ledge into the void of uselessness.

Even things that don’t seem to fit together can and do work. Rolling Stone created an entire culture out of the paradoxical thin-air by writing about music, for example.

In the same breath, the audience is there for almost every niche, no matter how small, including some we might consider “antiquated,” and the Almighty Series Of Tubes has proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt. There are still entire “cults”, for instance, that insist that vinyl recordings and vacuum tubes beat anything you can buy today to reproduce sound, no matter the technology involved.

If I were to write about a beach I went to two years past and describe it on a blog post as having “sand the color of which would make a genie jealous and waters so blue they would be less astonishing flowing from the back of a king”, most people would be able to conjure up a pretty good visual of that beach rather quickly, without the need of pictures, sound, or video.

I’m not railing against multi-media deliveries. For those with the capabilities, time, and desire to excel across multiple platforms, I wish nothing but success. However, there are only so many Chris Brogan’s or C.C. Chapman’s or Chris Penn’s in this world. Despite cheerleading to the contrary, not everyone will be a new media “super-hero,” and the key is to accept that and instead excel in the one niche you’re most capable in such that you can effectively communicate your message to the audience that choses to receive it.

I’m lazy. I’ll skim the first few sentences and if it doesn’t seem interesting I skip it. Audio is kinda new to me but I really like it because I can multi task and it seems to sink in very well. Video is my obvious favorite because it, as you said, connects me the best with the person of said blog. With that being said, they have to be somewhat entertaining. Their facial expressions, their mannerisms, the excitement they bring to what they are saying. They all have to be there somewhat or as with the text I stop listening.
I think audio is probably the neutral ground for me. It just seems like in the blogger world it’s the least used, at least with the blogs I subscribe to.
Great post Chris.

Hey, don’t forget the pdfcast! With each of my video podcasts, I have an accompanying pdf that gets downloaded into itunes too. That way I get the video and the text action going on. If it’s a project from the mag, it’s a pdf of the article. If it’s a project not in the mag, you’ll have custom instructions that you can print out for it too! :) - Bre

Bryce, I respectfully disagree.
We used oral communication for longer that written. But we also used song. We also used cave paintings. We also used clothing (what color fox pelt? Should I use the club for velocity or distance?) For all I know there were other modes of communication that have disappeared.

We ALWAYS have available multiple modes to convey multiple moods and multiple meanings. There are always choices. There are always skills to develop. We needn’t all mater everything, but we already are going far beyond simple text (wait, is that text in a letter, postcard, fax, email, skywriting…..)

Doesn’t this all come down to the fact that some people are auditory learners, other visual, others kinesthetic and others a mix of these?

We all have this uniquely wired brain between our ears, and it receives information best through certain mediums. On the net, we can find information on just about whatever in whichever format works best for us! How cool is that?!
If you decide you are going to make media, however, then you should contribute what you do best, what you are most passionate about, what matters to you. And whether you have 50 listeners or 5 million, it shouldn’t really matter.

If it’s all about making a living at making media, then you need to parse whether you are in love with the subject matter or the process itself. This can be two very different things.

If it’s the process, you can sell your abilities to others to produce their content and be very happy.

If it’s the subject matter, you need to consider if you are selling this passion to others, and what is the price of this passion? Why does it matter to other people? Are you selling your point of view? Your personality? And how does this apply in a meaningful way to others- how does this generate capital?

There’s no easy answers here, but the inquiry has to start with you. And that’s not always easy.

Bryce- Humans looked at pictographs on walls far longer than we’ve endured printed text. And yet, the Gutenberg press was certainly a landmark moment in modern times. Yes, well-turned words are lovely, and I’m still a fan of words. But if you read my post, I wasn’t advocating that we eschew any particular medium. Instead, I recommended we use the right tool for the right job.

NPR does great audio postcards of places I wish I were seeing. This American Life will surely suffer as a TV show. The book is always better than the movie. Right? So there are situations that defy the concept, and yet, as creators ourselves, there’s another challenge.

I didn’t say, as some have responded, that you should stop producing on the format you have chosen for your own. I’ve merely pointed out that different tools work better for different things.

Whitney- yes, there are learners who do better in aural form, others who have to see things, and several who are kinesthetic learners (I bet Bre Pettis is one such). As most of us aren’t seeking to reach our audience’s learning abilities (you might, by nature of your show, I realize), my only point is to put out here that there are a variety of tools at our disposal, and not just hammers.

Thanks, everyone, for your thoughts and feelings on this. It’s been really exciting to watch this comments section fill up with interesting perspectives.

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