Why video when words tell the story?
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) released a video last week discussing the process for new top level domain names. It features ICANN CEO Paul Twomey, COO Doug Brent and Senior Vice President for Services Kurt Pritz.
I got a kick out of the first comment on the video courtesy of George Kirikos. Kirikos, who has done a good job keeping the domainer community abreast of important issues at ICANN, wrote:
Written transcripts would have been beneficial, as they would have taken a lot less than 6 minutes and 22 seconds to read, use a lot less bandwidth, and can be translated using Google Translate. They can also be easily indexed, searched, and cut/paste, unlike video.
I’m not sure why everyone is in love with internet video. My rule of thumb is if you can write it rather than speak it, that’s the way to go for a number of reasons. First, it’s a lot faster to skim through an explanation than to watch a video. Second, many people access the web at work and can’t listen to the sound on videos.
There’s nothing wrong with video when you need to show it, such as entertainment. Or when the speaker is critical to the message. Or to show an environment and mood. It’s video for video’s sake that drives me crazy.
A couple years ago some internet marketers started using video on their “squeeze pages” instead of short copy. As soon as I click onto one of these pages, I hit the back button. I’m willing to skim through written content and find the parts that interest me, but I refuse to be subjected to a five minute video. It’s like leaving a detailed voicemail instead of sending an e-mail. That’s painful.
Sometimes video can be shown to add a face to a process. That’s probably the idea behind the ICANN video. But I don’t recommend spending 6 minutes and 22 seconds watching it.
Thankfully, a few days after posting the video ICANN added transcripts.
George Kirikos says
Until they hire Adriana Lima as their video spokesperson, they should definitely stick to text. Paul Twomey looked like a deer in the headlights.
Adam says
Not every body can right well Andrew. Sum peeple have trouble with the writin word.
People love the tube too.