You can’t skim a video.
I would much rather take 10 seconds to skim an article to see if it’s
worth reading than to stop what I’m doing, look for my earbuds, plug
them in and sit in front of a video that might take a couple of precious
minutes of my time. Yet study after study shows that online video is
extremely popular, as is the sharing of photography online. The news
media understand this, and even newspapers and magazines with roots in
print are depending more and more on video and photos. Here are five
reasons why:
1. Imagery Makes an Immediate Emotional Impact
When I flipped through The Atlantic’s 2012: The Year in Photos, the answer was clear about why online images (both still and video) are so prevalent and well-liked. The Atlantic’s
collection of photos offers visual evidence of 2012’s Sturm and Drang.
Some of these photos have the power to elicit strong emotions about the
numerous and horrible natural tragedies that occurred last year. Others
make the news about game-changing political upheaval around the world
come alive. Yet others document the triumphs of mankind, from scientific achievements to the performances of Olympian athletes. These photos are hard to forget.
2. Images Make the News Real
When I read about the Free Syrian Army clashing with Syrian troops, I
can absorb the “who, what, when, where, why and how” of the event. But
when I see a photo of a Syrian man
crying while cradling his dead son in his arms, one of 34 people killed
by a suicide bomber, the emotional pain inflicted by the violence in
Syria becomes much more real. This is certainly nothing new: a
41-year-old image of a naked Vietnamese child,
running with other children away from the scene of an aerial napalm
attack, was credited with helping to end the Vietnam War. It brought the
horrors of the war to life better than any words could. The difference
between then and now is a matter of speed and degree: the buzz about
the 1972 photo was spread by print and television media over a period of
days and weeks. Today, it would take only minutes for the photo to go
viral and be seen within hours by many millions around the world.
3. Images Motivate People to Act, Creating More News
Online image-sharing technology itself has played a role in
empowering people to stand together and take action. No need to carry a
camera anymore. A photo or a video can be taken with a cell phone and
uploaded to Flickr or YouTube instantly, where it can be seen instantly
and globally. The emotional impact of images has motivated people around
the world to participate in political protest for the first time. It
has moved average citizens to donate money to help disaster victims
because of the way it brings crises closer to home for many people.
Online images motivate people to take action, and that in turn creates
more web traffic to see the images.
Just as these visual social media tools have helped people around the
world to connect and share ideas and emotions, they have also helped
communications professionals to deliver their companies’ or clients’
messages with greater impact. However, the overwhelming quantity of
media images makes it harder to stand out and gain attention, so this is
a double-edged sword.
It’s inevitable that I – and others who grew up without computers –
will eventually gravitate more to online video. But I’ll also be happy
when someone invents a way to skim a video the way we can skim an
article to find out whether or not it’s worth the time to watch.
