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Video comments: Actually not so bad
So Disqus has enabled support for video comments from Seesmic, which launched the feature on TechCrunch awhile back. Even Fred Wilson of A VC — who is an investor in Disqus — admits in his post that he isn’t sure about 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 make it slow to load, and so on. And I must admit that when TechCrunch first launched them, I wasn’t too crazy about the idea either.
As I’ve said before on several occasions, I’m not really a video guy. I don’t think it adds that much to have video, unless (as Scoble notes in Fred’s comment section) you are showing someone something that relies on the visual element, like a new gadget or a new baby. But when I wrote my earlier post on the topic, I was mostly talking about video blogs — the ones that are exclusively video. Unless you’re Loren Feldman of 1938media (and let’s face it, who is?) that kind of thing reminds me of the Seinfeld episode when Kramer bought an old talk-show set and turned his living room into a fake talk show, but no one would go on.
That said, I’m actually thinking that video comments aren’t such a bad idea (some people continue to disagree). I don’t want everyone to use them, and I don’t want all the comments on a blog to be video — but in some cases it’s kind of fun to see Mike Arrington talking about Wired magazine, or to see Fred in person chatting into his web-cam. It is much more personal (which is why some people will probably never do it). But I actually don’t think it’s that bad. I think it adds a little variety — and if you don’t want to watch them, then you don’t have to. For an alternate (and hilarious) view, see this overview by Scrivs at Expert Idiot.
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for “Video comments: Actually not so bad”
I like the option of video replies. If we were only given the option to do video and NOT text, that would drastically reduce the amount of conversation a blog would get. Providing video replies as one option is nice.
I don't buy the argument that it disrupts conversation flow. I took a look at the long thread at A VC and it was easy to scan and play video clips if I chose to. I didn' t have to play them at all if I didn't want to and still could follow the conversation easily.
I also don't buy the argument that video = rambling. Text does not mean the reply will be a better value. Either can provide value to the conversation or be completely useless.
I think you're right, Guin -- no one is forcing anyone to make (or
watch) a video comment. But some people might actually feel more
comfortable expressing themselves in video rather than text. And as
you point out, text comments can be long and rambling and poorly
focused as well. I don't see video as an option being that huge a deal
really.
what's interesting is that you note mike going off on wired and fred talking into his webcam - in both of those cases you speak about the post author. they could easily embed a video into their post.
They could, Allen -- but that's part of why I think video makes more
sense for comments than it does for posts. It's good for quick
thoughts or messages, but not for longer-form (unless you are
spectacularly interesting).
ive been thinking about adding it but im just not sure about video comments. guess ill just have to give it a go. im still trying to decide about disqus, you still cant export your data right?
You can't yet, but Daniel Ha of Disqus has assured me (and lots of
other people) that it's in the works, along with trackbacks.