Comments on: Are video comments the next stage in blog evolution?

By: Mich

Mich — Thu, 29 May 2008 05:27:30 +0000

What about spam, porn, offense etc? How do you moderate them? How do you scan through 70 video comments for a comment that catches your eye?

And what about Generation Y (and Z)? Are they more inclined to leave video comments? As Sheamus said, it’s not very workable /now/ as the videos would eat into peoples own bandwidth pretty quickly (something that text comments don’t do). But that will change. Generation Y live and breathe video, from their mobile phones and gaming consoles to their generic love of youtube and the latest Grand Theft Auto.

If the blog software/plugins can get around the spam and moderation issues then I can definately see a future mixing video comments and text comments. I imagine if myspace adds them as well (if they haven’t already) and it is adopted by the kids, that will be the true test of the future.

By: Fen

Fen — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:35:58 +0000

I think video comments are a silly idea. I’ve always been for the minimalistic approach to things though. Also, the listed pro of putting a face with a name isn’t really a pro in my view. It tears away one of the beauties of text-only communication online: people being judged by their words and not their appearance, speech, etc. Also, to be perfectly honest, I’d never watch any of the video comments.

By: Sheamus

Sheamus — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:03:46 +0000

I think it’s pretty daft myself. I can see it being more workable in maybe 5-10 years when recording and uploading videos is near-instant, but if I was reading the comments in a blog post and it contained any video clips, I’d either scroll right by them or go somewhere else, personally.

Why? You can decide after a sentence if a comment is worth reading. The effort of loading up a video and going through all that seems like something I’d never see myself doing.

I mean, what kind of person takes the time to record a video comment? No offense to any that do, but really… it’d better be something VERY special!

Of course, if you’re topless in the still I’d probably have a cheeky look… ;)

By: Jeffery Williams

Jeffery Williams — Wed, 28 May 2008 17:34:31 +0000

I think of blogs like a newspaper not like a TV or video phone. I think video comments would detract from the reading experience and disrupt the flow of the blog. I’d probably skip most of them.

Video comments may be removed from the hosting site, leaving strange gaps in the comments. Alternatively, the blog could store all that junk and spend a fortune on storage.

With that said, I think there are places where this would work really well. I can envision a Vlog that uses it effectively and is willing to accept the cons and work at solving the problems.

By: Kristen von

Kristen von — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:12:01 +0000

While videos are cool and I can see your pro’s, I know my work doesn’t allow video’s, so we are forced to use the old method of reading. Our network admin will come over and smack our little hands with rulers if he see’s anyone using his bandwidth…

By: Laurens

Laurens — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:02:46 +0000

Video comments make a nice extra feature, but they shouldn’t and will never replace the oldschool text comments. Commenting with a text message like this is much easier and (!) faster. That’s probably the main reason why I wouldn’t bother replying in a video message…