Video Comments: Huh?

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Video Comments: Huh?

By Mark Evans | May 14, 2008

Like Fred Wilson, I don’t get video comments on blogs.

To me, it’s a technology (video) looking to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. It’s just not clear how video comments are better and/or different from text comments, or how they enhance/change a conversation.

Still, there’s no lack of companies looking to force video comments on to the market. The latest is Disqus and Seesmic, which are teaming up to offer video comments. I really like what Disqus is doing but my advice is they should focus on making their text comment system better and more feature-rich (e.g. trackbacks would be nice, as well as a way to backup comments) rather than running into the video market.

Speaking of Seesmic, I don’t get it either. Lots of hype led by a savvy CEO, Loic Le meur.

Update: In contrast to me bearishness about video comments, She Geeks is enthusiastic about the idea, especially how user-friendliness of the Disqus-Seesmic service. Mathew Ingram, meanwhile, is cautiously optimistic.

Technorati Tags: Blogs, Disqus, Video

Topics: Blogs, Video |

Comments to “Video Comments: Huh?”

docgui Says:
May 14th, 2008 at 2:57 pm

As I see it the three big advantages of video comments…

1) Theoretically they should take more effort to make and have a higher signal to noise ratio than the hundreds of “me too” comments.

2) They can convey a much more detailed response. This is especially important for comments dissecting video.

3) Video comments may actually help sites get better rankings in search engines.

Just a few quick thoughts on the pros.

engtech Says:
May 14th, 2008 at 2:59 pm

Video comments only make sense if your readers are really really really ridiculously good looking.

engtech Says:
May 14th, 2008 at 3:00 pm

How in the world would a video comment make your site get better search rankings?

Text is indexed by search engines. Video, not so much.

Mark Evans Says:
May 14th, 2008 at 3:00 pm

I would also suggest that video comments work for people who are loved by the camera AND love the camera.

Aidan Henry Says:
May 14th, 2008 at 3:08 pm

Hey Mark,

I feel the exact same way. I think this post from Scrivs best sums it up: http://expertidiot.com/19/video-comments-blow-me/ I’m working on a post of my own…

@docgui
None of your stated “advantages” are merited.

1) Watching a video takes a lot longer than reading a short bit of text. There is much higher potential for noise, time-wasting, self-promotion, and spam among other things.

2) If you want to provide a detailed response, write a post and provide a trackback. Let me decide how whether I want to hear your long-winded opinion

3) Better rankings? I think the opposite is true. Because video is being used instead of text, the search engines have less content to crawl.

Just my two bits…

Cheers,
Aidan

Video comments: Actually not so bad » mathewingram.com/work | Says:
May 14th, 2008 at 3:56 pm

[...] whether video comments work or not. And there are lots of people who are pretty sure that they don’t work, because you can’t scan them as easily as you can text, because they clutter up a blog and [...]

docgui Says:
May 14th, 2008 at 11:01 pm

Aidan Henry

“1) Watching a video takes a lot longer than reading a short bit of text. There is much higher potential for noise, time-wasting, self-promotion, and spam among other things.”

Well you seem to have missed my point.

Right now there are less video comments than text comments. Video comments have a higher barrier to entry and hopefully if you cared enough to make a video and spent multiples of the time necessary to make several text posts.

“2) If you want to provide a detailed response, write a post and provide a trackback. Let me decide how whether I want to hear your long-winded opinion :)”

Not everyone wants to
a) start a blog b)maintain a blog and c)provide a trackback
and people looking for answers might find it easier to click an inline video and see for themselves whether it’s worth it than follow a mystery link.

Besides some things are better presented visually (e.g., a visual walkthrough on solving a vexing computer error), some people are visual learners.

“3) Better rankings? I think the opposite is true. Because video is being used instead of text, the search engines have less content to crawl.”

Search engines are now looking at more assets on the page. Including relevant media like images and video and tagging them appropriately already improves search engine rankings.

WinExtra » From the Pipeline - 5.14.08 Says:
May 14th, 2008 at 11:50 pm

[...] Video Comments: Huh? :: Mark Evans - not everyone is enamored with the idea of Disqus supporting video comments .. or even just plain old video comments. I’m still of a mixed mind on the matter myself even though they are enabled here. [...]

Cyndy Aleo-Carreira Says:
May 15th, 2008 at 12:10 am

Phew! I thought it was just me! Everyone was so all-fired enthusiastic I thought there was something wrong with me. I. don’t. have. time. That’s the crux of it. It would be faster for me to fire up Seesmic and do this as a video comment, but it would take longer for anyone to read it. I see a video comment in a thread and I go right on by. It could be the most insightful comment every with a VENN diagram that gives me the answer to everything in the universe and I’d have no idea because I don’t have time to sit and watch someone in a video just in case it IS the answer to the universe.

There’s no huge entry to filming a video comment, especially since so many people have Macs. I have a handy little iSight sitting there WAITING for me to make a video comment. I just don’t want to make people sit through it.

It takes ME longer to type a comment, but anyone else less time to read it. Why would I want to make their adoption of my theories, and my subsequent world domination, more difficult for them to access?

Seesmic Video Comments Says:
May 15th, 2008 at 4:41 am

[...] nature won’t sit well with many. Mark Evans expressed a similar dissatisfaction and has a good discussion going [...]

Speak Your Mind | Techno Mojo Says:
November 5th, 2008 at 9:27 pm

[...] Video Comments: Huh? [...]

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Video Comments: Huh?