Earlier I said that 50 billion videos were viewed online in February 2008, and even that I think is just a U.S. figure. Now with seesmic et al, people are getting up every morning and saying “hello” to the handful of people who are also trying out the new service, and who knows where that will all develop to.
But one area that video is being used more and more is the delivery of information that before you would have got off a page of text. Business information. Views, tips, hints. And thinking about it, it really isn’t an efficient way of delivering information in many ways. A 5 minute video is probably equivalent to a page of text which would take 20 seconds to scan.
But what it IS very good at, of course, is getting across all that non-verbal detail that would go missing otherwise.
It’s like trying to make a joke, or be sarcastic, in an SMS text message. It doesn’t really work until you get to hear the intonation of someone’s voice, or see the daft grin on their face.
As an example, the “Niche Ninjas” drop some useful tips into their videos, which I fell upon today by chance, on affiliate and niche marketing. Sure there’s ninja-hand waving moments, but there’s some good stuff in there.
Is this just novelty value, or is this beginning to be the justification for video? Either way, I’m going to keep to writing for the moment, which is a relief for all.
My thoughts about targeting, psychology and data - all things that drive my company, 