Blogging vs. Vlogging

This is an argument that I often have in whether I should blog something or vlog it. Before the start of this month, I thought of doing VEDA instead of BEDA or possibly both of them this month (obviously BEDA won out). I am not particularly good at either one and they both concern things that I want to get better at—writing and general video making/editing—and that I cannot improve upon without practice.

I ended up choosing blogging over vlogging for this month, because I had a month where I posted a lot of videos and I already make myself try to make and edit videos on a somewhat regular basis. That is not the case when it comes to writing. I do try to write with consistency, but since I did not have a scenario where I had to write every single day, I did not get into the habit of doing it. So personally, blogging this month was the best choice for me.

But, blogging has not been the trend lately. I remember that I originally signed up for Blogspot so I could follow certain people on here because they blogged consistently and they almost always participated in BEDA, both the April and August versions. Several of them have moved onto blogging on their own websites, but more have stopped blogging with consistency (or at all) whether on this service or another. More people are video blogging, or vlogging than are blogging. Maybe they feel that it is easier. I know that I find it easier to turn on the camera on my phone, talk for a minute or two, and then do a direct upload to YouTube.

Is there more significance to posting a blog than a vlog? Are people more likely to watch a 3 minute long video than read 600 words? Is it a better way to express yourself by having body language and tone inflection included in what you are saying?

Perhaps it is easier to get your point across by speaking than sitting down and writing about it, but I think that gives more weight to blogging than vlogging. I think that when you sit down to write something, you find yourself thinking much more deeply about the subject that you are writing about because you do not have the advantages of things like tone inflection and body language. It takes more time to find the right words to describe what you are thinking and in turn, you find yourself practicing the craft of writing more so that those things come across easier in the future.

I am not necessarily saying that vlogging is easier than blogging. I know that many vloggers script or partially script what they are going to say in their videos and of course there are many versions of the same thing being said over and over, sometimes in different ways sometimes in the exact same way until the right version comes out and it is edited together. It can take just as long, or even longer, to get the right vlog. I just feel that because you cannot put your face or physical voice on something that you write, it can be more of a challenge to convey what you want.

I am a fan of both vlogging and blogging. They are both the same, in that they are an excellent way to convey your thoughts or feelings on a topic yet different because they allow for two different sets of skills to be used and practiced. I find them both just as important as the other and I want to continue doing both with some sort of consistency. But, for now, I think I will work on my writing.