Sunday, February 7, 2010

The Vlogger's Advantage

I believe that all bloggers have one common goal: putting a message out there and hoping somebody will read it. Now, this might be more true or false depending on how devoted a blogger you are or how much you even care about your blog. But, for anyone reading this right now, we are going to pretend that you are a blogger and you care about having and reaching a very large audience.
So you want to reach a large audience. How is this possible? Well, bloggers must figure out creative ways to convey their messages. You think to yourself, " I am going to write about something that interests me, maybe attach a couple of pictures, and maybe add a video link or two." However, you still have to figure out how to draw people to your blog site, make them want to read your blog, and ultimately have them want to follow your blog and encourage others to do the same. If you ask me, a blogger has it hard.
Now, picture this. You are sitting at home, bedazzling up your blog and posting links to Twitter and Facebook hoping to see the number of people reading and following your blog keep increasing. If you are new to blogging, this could take days, even months! Then you turn to your friend, "the vlogger" and her video message on YouTube gets another couple hits every minute! You think to yourself, "how do they do it!?" Well, this is what I would like to call the vlogger's advantage.
What is a vlogger you ask? A vlogger is a video blogger and if you ask me, has more of an advantage at reaching a large audience than a blogger. In order to get my point across, I came up with 5 reasons for why a vlogger has a bigger advantage over a blogger.
1: I believe that more people would rather listen and watch a video vs. sitting down to a read a blog (then again that could just be what I would do).
2: I think you have the opportunity to be more creative. In a video blog you can tape yourself in almost any environment and can actually show viewers who you are. Blog followers can only rely on pictures on a blog site and a bloggers tone of voice to figure out about the person whos blog they happen to be reading.
3. Vloggers can use YouTube to post their video blog. With the millions of people on YouTube, there is a very good chance that viewers will just stumble onto a videoblog and watch it.
4. (similar to 3) Vloggers on YouTube can reach a larger audience. Almost anyone goes on YouTube and will typically click on a link to see a YouTube video. People have to be interested in reading blogs in the first place in order for them to see a link to a blog and want to click on it.
FINALLY...
5. If a vlogger is also a blogger . . . watch out! They are providing readers with a choice: watch my blog or read it.
However, as I mentioned above, this is only my opinion. Leave a comment and tell me yours! Oh and if you are wondering why a vlogger advocate has a blog: I hate taping myself so I will never be a vlogger. Isn't it ironic.

3 comments:

  1. I like the advantages of vlogging!
    Two things that made me like blogging better than vlogging:
    1. blogging allows some level of anonymity. You don't have to sit in front of a camera and let the followers see what you look like:-P. That way you will be less likely to get bothered or harrassed even if others have a second thought about your blog.
    2. blogging requires less than vlogging. I don't need to have a camera, or worry about the sound effects. I can do blogging anywhere I want without bothering others or being interrupted.

    Apart from the above reasons, I like vlogging and hear all you said in your post. Let's try different things and then talk about which is better! :-)

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  2. Great points Kim. I love when some of the blogs I follow have some videos that I can watch. I agree with the comment above: the anonymous factor. Sure I put pictures up on my blog, but I still feel like I'm somewhat "removed" (if that makes sense). While I love the creativity people put in their videos, I'm perfectly content sitting in my pj's to write down my thoughts. :)

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  3. Your probably correct and most people prefer vlogs. I am in the minority and prefer blogs because I am usually on the go and reading on my mobile and am a tad impatient. I have a hard time watching vlogs, videos or Dr. Waters lectures (last year) without wanting to speed up the tape. Vlogs do offer more memorable content and of course author recognition. I suppose it's a personal choice for all.

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