Okay, here’s my problem with the internet, circa 2008. (I mean, besides the fact that it lost the capital I.)
Today while surfing I found a blog post that I wanted to read. It was called “There’s only one reason you should switch to D&D4E.” That’s effective headline writing — very compelling. I clicked through.
What I got was an online video. And in the first minute, all he did was explain who he was, and what he was going to talk about. He seemed friendly.
I do not doubt that the guy is an expert and I really do value his opinion on the matter — I am very interested to see what the “old guard” thinks of the new game, and what they feel its strengths and weaknesses are. But I could have read his thoughts faster. After the first minute of a 4-minute video, I was ready to stop, but the point didn’t actually come until 2:50.
I really like YouTube. I am down for everything it does right, all the doors it has opened. But when it comes to blogging, online video is shinier but less efficient. If you are actually showing something, it’s brilliant. If you are saying something, it’s not. Text is the lingua franca of the internet for good reason.
If you have something important to say, type. The world will still hear you if it wants to.