JLynn

I’m hooked (for the moment anyway). It’s been only a few days since I read the assigned article (“Blogging + Video = Vlogging” by Katie Dean), but since then I’ve been keeping current with Rocketboom, hosted by Amanda Congdon. On that first day, a notice posted where her vlog would usually appear:

Amanda was held at gun point and robbed in midtown last night… luckily she is fine, but 9/22 episode to come later today.

And it did. The Daily Show-esqe vlog, published each weekday, actually had the full five features this week; illustrating of the dedication Congdon has to her fans.

Dean sited one vlogger who claims to spend no less that two hours on each video he posted. The amount of effort people put into these vlogs amazes me.

I remember the kids who, back in high school, loved to make home movies. Whenever a project was assigned they somehow manipulated the assignment to encompass a video of them jumping through their backyards. I’m guessing it’s many of these same people who are now taking hours each day to post these vlogs.

As with anything, this format certainly has its pros and cons.

Pros
· Potential educational value
· Another means to get yourself heard.
· Additional points of view- getting to hear a different side of the stories you hear on TV
· Affordable means to share knowledge on just about anything.

Cons
· More unrelated links to sift through when searching for what you need
· Additional points of view – Another means for Experts [AKA: everyone and their brother] to espouse misleading, misguided or flat out wrong ‘facts’ and take advantage of people willing to believe anything.
· New ways to break laws that have yet to be written
· A lot of boring video