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. Thanks to the internet, the widespread of meaningful data has never been easier as well.
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.
Unknown to many, YouTube is in fact the second largest search engine in the world – right next to Google. The only difference lies in the nature of the information they handle.
Google handles text data thus, blogs. YouTube, on the other hand, handles digital media or videos. Blogs and vlogs both impart unique information to millions of users worldwide. They are simply expressed in different content forms.
The people who do vlogs are called vloggers or influencers (blog creators are also referred to as influencers, btw) so there really isn’t much difference with the two.
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 learning styles and although both visual in nature, blogs and vlogs approach data presentation in contrasting yet complimenting 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.
Crash courses in YouTube are common examples of vlogs. If you’re interested to know more about them, you can always check out cool videos from TedEd and Online Crash Course.
This facilitative nature of vlogs is prominently the reason why they are believed to be growing more popular than blogs in recent years. But then again, I say it’s all about preference.
Vlogs growing more popular nowadays only tells us that more people are encouraged to learn something new when they are being “spoon fed” with the information. No judgement, of course.
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!
