No, I haven’t seen your video. Here’s why:
I hear a lot about the value of video online, and I generally agree. Video can be hugely engaging, eye catching, and is fantastic for explaining complex concepts. But everyone knows that by now - so here are my top 5 reasons video is the wrong way to reach me.
- I work all day, generally without headphones on. As such, I can read an article during the day without bothering a co-worker - I can’t do this with video.
- An article can be opened, read, stopped, re-read, stopped, re-read, shared, and then finished without disrupting the reading experience any more than I need to. Video doesn’t play well with multitasking, in my experience.
- I spend most of my non-work time on a mobile device. Even though my iPhone 4 (sorta) has multi-tasking, video requires dedicating all of my screen, and the entire audio output, to the video. Massively disruptive from an information intake standpoint.
- Video has trouble selling itself to me before I start watching. An article headline is often descriptive of a problem or idea that will be explored. It’s either harder to express why a video is worth watching in a headline, or people don’t take the time.
- There’s no good video-only aggregator that I’ve found. When I find an article or blog I want to read, it goes into google reader or instapaper. When I find a video, it might end up favourited for later on YouTube, but more likely it will go unwatched.
No disrespect intended to web video, as I consider it hugely influential and powerful, especially in relation to branded content, and real-world experiences. But at the same time, I’m a member of a demographic that’s targeted by a large number of brands, and web video that doesn’t end up going viral generally doesn’t hit my radar, despite the absurd amount of content I consume.
