Vlogging is more popular than blogging on social platforms: YouTube had more than 2.7 billion monthly active users in January 2024, and 84% of US adults say they use it (Pew Research Center, 2025). Blogging is far from dead, though. WordPress runs 40.2% of all websites (W3Techs, October 2026), and the best choice depends on your audience and topic.
Key Takeaways
- A vlog is a blog whose main medium is video; a blog is built from written posts.
- Video wins on reach and personal connection; text wins on skimming, editing and web search.
- “Second-largest search engine” is a marketing phrase; YouTube is verifiably the second-most-visited website after Google.
- YouTube Partner Program eligibility starts at 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 watch hours or 10 million Shorts views (as of October 2026).
- Many businesses get the most from doing both and embedding videos in blog posts.
You all probably know what blogging is. After all, almost every business has a blog page nowadays. Some like to call it News, Articles, Journals, Posts, and maybe names I can’t even think of right now. Point is, blogging is a prevalent practice among businesses – for reasons that are very much acceptable, of course.
There are many names used to refer to “blogging activities” as mentioned above. So in order to not get you confused, let us accurately define the activity we call blogging first.
What Is A Blog?
Let me tell you that first of all, what you are reading right now is something categorized as a “blog.” So to speak, blogs are basically informational text entries (often) written in a casual or informal manner that talks about a specific subject or topic of interest.
Most blogs are written by website owners themselves or independent content contributors. That said, it means that anyone can have a chance at writing a blog post, sharing their insights, and expressing their views.
Now, blog posts are not to be mistaken as “real news” – that is, not until it has been thoroughly validated. Blogs are often written with intent to educate or tell a story but businesses also make use of such activity to strengthen their marketing efforts.
The world has now entered an era of technology and information. Thus, people demand access to news, events, and facts whenever and wherever convenient. Cheap marketing tactics that seem to have worked before have a hard time trying to pass consumer standards in recent years.
People need data and it just so happens that blogging can satisfy this need for new learning. Now, there are even companies dedicated to delivering informational blog posts and you can easily search for their websites online to get more information.
By blogging important matters relating to one’s product, business owners and entrepreneurs can encourage users to purchase, use, or experience the product or service they offer. It’s really a case where both parties satisfy the need of the other.
For consumers, it’s the need to be informed. For businessmen, it’s the need for product exposure. Win-win, I’d say. The internet has also made it far easier to spread useful information to a large audience.
However, blogging has been in practice for so long that the need for a new way to disseminate information seems to have risen. People just can’t get enough of new tricks, you see.
True enough, blogging has provided the most ideal environment for businesses and establishments to connect with people online. Recently, however, a new practice is increasingly becoming popular.
I’m talking about Vlogging.
What Is Vlogging?
Vlogging is basically blogging with a “V” as in “Video.” Instead of creating content and materializing relevant pieces of information through words, people are using a more imaginative approach: Video Creation. This is where YouTube comes into play.
YouTube is often called the world’s second-largest search engine after Google, but that is a popular marketing phrase rather than an official ranking. According to Wikipedia, YouTube is the second-most-visited website in the world after Google itself, and it had reached more than 2.7 billion monthly active users in January 2024. The only difference lies in the nature of the information they handle.
Google Search is best known for leading people to text pages such as blogs, while YouTube, which Google bought in November 2006, is built around video. Blogs and vlogs both impart unique information to millions of users worldwide. They are simply expressed in different content forms.
People who make vlogs are called vloggers, and people who write blogs are called bloggers; when either group builds a large following, both are often described as influencers or creators, so the two roles overlap more than the names suggest.
Both deliver information in the form of content, both take a lot of time and effort to create, and both impart meaning and practical solutions to people’s lives.
So why are vlogs considered to be more popular than blogs nowadays? Or, are they?
Which Is Better – Blogging or Vlogging?
For me, one isn’t necessarily better than the other but I’m sure some of you might beg to differ. It’s all about preference you see. A person who likes to read will, without doubt, prefer blogs over vlogs. In the same way, people who easily take in information when animated will prefer vlogs better than blogs.
People have different reading and viewing preferences, and blogs and vlogs present information in contrasting yet complementary ways.
For example, are you familiar with crash courses? In a nutshell, a crash course is a type of learning material that makes use of videos to educate people about a certain subject. It is not very flashy and usually involves one person assuming the role of a “teacher” or “presenter” to do the entire discussion.
Some crash courses also make use of fun, animated visuals to make the video more informative and entertaining. What happens is that textbook knowledge is transformed into something appealing and impactful. The fact that videos also tap into a person’s auditory sense makes the learning process much more effective.
Educational explainer channels on YouTube are a common example of this video format, although strictly speaking they are explainers rather than personal vlogs. Two well-known examples are TedEd and Online Crash Course. TedEd is TED-Ed, which describes itself as TED’s youth and education initiative and was established in 2012. Online Crash Course refers to the YouTube channel Crash Course, created by John Green and Hank Green, which launched on January 26, 2012 and, according to Wikipedia, had over 17 million subscribers as of March 2026.
This ease of learning is one reason video is widely believed to have grown faster than written blogs. According to Pew Research Center, 84% of US adults said they ever use YouTube in a survey conducted from February 5 to June 18, 2025. But then again, I say it’s all about preference.
The growth of vlogs suggests that many people find it easier to learn something new when a presenter walks them through it step by step. That is a difference in format, not in the quality of the audience.
If you are a business owner or an entrepreneur looking for new ways to spice up your blog content, you may want to consider starting your own YouTube channel and producing VLOGS. Don’t worry, you can still feature or link to them in your website blogs so it’s win-win!
Is Vlogging Really More Popular Than Blogging?
Vlogging is more popular than blogging by audience reach on the biggest platforms, but blogging has not disappeared. Video and text simply reach people in different ways, and the numbers for both are very large.
- Video reach: according to Wikipedia, YouTube had more than 2.7 billion monthly active users in January 2024, and its advertising revenue was $40.4 billion in 2025.
- US usage: Pew Research Center reports that 84% of US adults say they ever use YouTube (survey conducted February 5 to June 18, 2025, published November 20, 2025).
- Short video: YouTube Shorts are vertical videos of up to three minutes (the limit was 60 seconds before September 2024). According to Wikipedia, Shorts had collectively earned over 9 trillion views as of November 21, 2025.
- Text websites: WordPress, which was originally created as a blogging tool, is used by 40.2% of all websites, according to W3Techs data as of October 2026.
In short, video dominates attention on social platforms, while written pages remain the backbone of the open web and of search results.
A Short History of Blogs and Vlogs
- 1997: the term “weblog” was coined by Jorn Barger on December 17, 1997, according to Wikipedia.
- 1999: Peter Merholz shortened it to “blog” in May 1999 by jokingly splitting “weblog” into “we blog”.
- 2000: on January 2, 2000, Adam Kontras posted a video alongside a blog entry, the first post of what became the longest-running video blog.
- 2003: WordPress was first released on May 27, 2003.
- 2005: YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, and co-founder Jawed Karim uploaded the first YouTube vlog clip, “Me at the zoo”, in April 2005.
- 2006: Google bought YouTube on November 13, 2006, for 1.65 billion US dollars.
- 2021: YouTube Shorts became available to the general public on July 13, 2021.
Blogging vs. Vlogging: Side-by-Side Comparison
| Factor | Blogging | Vlogging |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Written posts with images and links | Video, often with a written description |
| Basic tools | A website or blogging platform and a text editor | A camera or phone, a microphone and editing software |
| Main discovery route | Web search and links from other sites | Platform recommendations and search inside video apps such as YouTube |
| Easy to skim | Yes, readers can jump to headings | Harder, viewers depend on chapters or timestamps |
| Easy to update | Yes, text can be edited after publishing | Limited, a published video usually has to be re-recorded to change its content |
| Personal connection | Comes through the writing voice | Stronger, viewers see and hear the creator |
| YouTube monetization | Not applicable | YouTube Partner Program eligibility starts at 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 watch hours in 12 months, or 1,000 subscribers plus 10 million Shorts views in 90 days (as of October 2026) |
How to Choose Between a Blog and a Vlog
- Start with the audience. If your readers search for detailed answers, prices or step-by-step instructions, a written post is easier for them to scan and bookmark.
- Look at the topic. Topics that need to be seen, such as cooking, travel, product demos, fitness or software tutorials, usually work better as video.
- Be honest about your strengths. Writing needs clear structure; vlogging needs comfort on camera, sound recording and editing.
- Count the time. A video usually needs scripting, filming and editing on top of the research a blog post needs.
- Plan to reuse content. Many creators publish a video and a written version of the same material, embedding the video in the post so each format supports the other.
Using Blogs and Vlogs Together
For a business, the most practical approach is usually not “blog or vlog” but both. A blog post gives search engines and readers a text page to find, while an embedded video reaches people who prefer to watch. If you are building a channel, our guide on how to gain more YouTube subscribers covers the basics, and this walkthrough of vlogging with CapCut PC shows one editing workflow.
For the written side, see these affordable ways to boost traffic to your business blog and this guide to writing content that search engines take seriously. The free reading time calculator shows how long a post takes to read, which is useful when you turn a video script into an article or the other way around.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a blog and a vlog?
A blog is a website or section made of written posts, usually shown newest first. A vlog, short for video blog or video log, is a blog in which the main medium is video. Both share information, stories or opinions; they differ mainly in format.
Is vlogging more popular than blogging?
Vlogging reaches more people on social platforms: YouTube alone had more than 2.7 billion monthly active users in January 2024, according to Wikipedia. Written content is still huge, though, and WordPress is used by 40.2% of all websites according to W3Techs as of October 2026.
Is YouTube the second-largest search engine?
The phrase is a common marketing claim, not an official ranking. What can be verified is that YouTube is the second-most-visited website in the world after Google, according to Wikipedia.
How many subscribers do you need to earn money on YouTube?
According to YouTube Help, as of October 2026 the YouTube Partner Program requires 1,000 subscribers plus either 4,000 qualified watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days.
Should a business start a blog or a YouTube channel?
A business should choose the format its customers already use, and many do both. A blog is cheaper to start and easier to update, while a channel builds a more personal connection; embedding videos in blog posts combines the two.
