Last week, we brought you the ins and outs of consumer news comments. This week: news and blog comments of the 22nd century.
A couple months back, Viddler launched a new video commenting plug-in for WordPress bloggers. It allows blog readers to record or embed a video after each post, in lieu of, or combined with a text comment.
The rapid consumer adoption of digital video technology, and significant drops in camera pricing have driven this demand for more diverse video sharing outlets. Services like LiveVideo and Stickam have allowed web users to socially connect through live and recorded video feeds. And the concept of “lifecasting” has taken the concept of Truman Showing to a whole new level.
But what’s the value in this new video commenting technology?
For the blogger or journalist, the feature drives a deeper connection with readers. Watching a video is a much more personal interaction than text communication. It’s hard to grasp the demographic make-up or emotional mindset of readers through a sentence composed of “lolz” and “wtf”.
It’s much easier for bloggers to watch and intelligently respond to 30-second video rants than it is to read three and four paragraph responses.
For readers, the social implications of video commenting are considerable. Like the blogger or journalist, commenters can now see who his/her fellow readers are, and, while this may seem insignificant, few can argue that a written conversation is more valuable than one that happens face-to-face.
This format of commenting delivers a better sense of community and fuels deeper conversation. While many blog comments typically go unnoticed, it’s much harder to ignore an embedded video stuck smack in the middle of a comment field.
As the year progresses, it will be exciting to see how many sites adopt Viddler’s new format, and, more importantly, how many consumers jump on the video commenting bandwagon.
