I’ll tell you why. Because it’s changing the game and breaking up the establishment of traditional marketing and news delivery.
I still remember reading this line of text in Steve Krug’s excellent book ‘Don’t Make Me Think‘ years and years ago. It read…
“People don’t read, they scan.”
How very true when you think about it from a long-tail/majority perspective. Sure, “some” people still like to read long copy and drawn out blog entries, but in general, most people do not. Steve’s words hit me on the head like a hammer. That was the day I changed the way I thought about web design and copy-writing.
It was also the day, looking back now, that I knew that the written word as we known it was on a down slide.
Video scares the heck out of everyone because it’s a massive change in the way things “have always been”. I get that, and I certainly understand that change can be frightening. What I don’t get though is the slew of people out there who are refuse to believe that the world is moving away from the written word.
No, I’m not saying that nobody’s going to read in 20-years (50 maybe). What I am saying is that if you look at the innovations that are taking place in our society in the past few years (iphone, youtube, etc…), you have to at least believe “possibly” that our society is moving towards a more word-free world, right?
Ask yourself this question and answer it honestly. In ten years, do you believe you’ll be reading a long text blog post or NY Times article on your personal hand-held phone/computer/video camera/whatever else device?
Or, is it more likely that you’ll be watching short video and text blasts from your favorites blogs and news outlets?
One of my favorite bloggers, Mathew Ingram, writes….
I’ve said it before – I just don’t think video is as compelling a medium for discussion as blogs are. Video can start discussions or conversations, and Loren’s vlog is a great example of that, but it doesn’t really lend itself to the back-and-forth that makes blogs so appealing.
I would argue that the conversations are moving. Both in terms of how they’re delivered (text to video), and in length and detail (longer to shorter). Sites like Seesmic and Twitter represent microscopic starting points for what we might perhaps see in the future.
Some type of evolution is happening to the way we digest information, we can all see it happening. Questions remain to which theory you believe in. Will the written word live on as it stands today, or will it evolve?
I think you know where I stand on this topic. What do you think?
I think there will always be room for both. In fact, I hope the day comes when I don’t have to choose between one or the other, but that I can consume both in the manner that best suits my needs and preferences at any given time.
The written word will live for several reasons. One is precisely because you can scan it. If you watch a video, you have to watch a video…you can’t scan through for keywords to see if there’s something interesting.
Two, reading is faster than video. If you had done a video on the above post it would have taken much more of my time. People don’t have that kind of time. I don’t believe people will want to take time to sit and watch back and forth videos of a conversation.
Three, not everyone wants to be on video. That will limit your particpants in the conversation.
I understand where you’re coming from on video, Jim. I’m a big proponent of video and do a lot of it myself. However I don’t believe video will kill the writing.
Hi Cam, I think that day will come, eventually. But I agree, choice is best.
Jay, but don’t you think that in 20 years people won’t really have the choice to be on video or not? It just seems that that’s the way things are moving?
Jim, I do agree that video is the way things are moving and will be the most important form of communication. I just don’t believe it will kill the written word.
I think it’s way too simplistic to blame it on pure “resistance to change.”
Here’s where I’ve struggled with my clients:
1) Afraid of loss of control (the content will be mashed; will be distributed where the client doesn’t want it; etc.)
2) No substantive proof it is a better choice of marketing funds than things they’ve been doing well already
We need more case studies (rather than scare tactics).
Perhaps because most of my clients are b2b our research results are what they are: When my client’s employees and customers are asked what medium they prefer when visiting our client’s web sites or when receiving our client’s communications, video isn’t even on the radar screen. Simply put: Video requires too much time and effort and can’t be scanned.
Sorry to rain on your parade, Jimbo, but smart people and others who run the world (and companies and governments and all kinds of other organizations) READ, simply because they have to. Those who aren’t and don’t, scan. And they can happily, blissfully remain scanners. And also mired in a life less successful than they might otherwise enjoy.
Context, application, and audience needs determine the appropriate medium to use. For one, I believe instruction manuals and explanatory notes are best augmented by video.
John, that’s changing, that’s all I’m saying.
I can smell your fear my friend
Maybe information will be presented in the most effective format for a particular application, which will sometimes be video, and often be the written word.
I’ll second Lewis Green’s comment: for B2B situations, text is preferred because it’s more effective. It can be skimmed easily (video can’t), it can be accessed in situations where video is highly inconvenient, select bits of it can be cut & pasted into other documents (like email), etc. It’s also a lot more effective for clearly communicating many types of complex information.
It’s not fear that keeps video from taking over the world. It’s common sense, and an understanding of how to communicate in ways that serve your audience.
The trouble with video is that it makes a far better tool for monologue than the dialogue that builds communities.
That isn’t to say that it won’t change. I can see video chat being as accessible as written. As for when – It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was debating the liklihood of people having photocopiers in their homes. At the time it didn’t seem likely at all.
Will video overtake, even replace the written word? Somehow, I doubt it. You are right, Jim, that many people seem to prefer scanning rather than going to all that hard work of reading text and actually absorbing more than just the bare bones.
But here’s another way to look at it. Technology is helping video gain considerably more influence as its own communications channel. It won’t replace the written word. It will just be another option in the wealth of those increasingly available to our society.
And by the way, did anyone notice the irony that this post on the death of the written word shared space with advertising for something as passe as paperback books?
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