Poll: How do you like to get your online content?

Recently I've read a couple of blog posts about how habits are changing in the way people are consuming information online. Cindy King has an article on 7 Reasons for Different Online Content and makes a compelling case for knowing what your audience wants in order to provide information in the format that meets their needs.

Steve Rubel reports in a post on his life streaming site (blog) that he's using more visual imagery in his communications and is working on limiting all writing to 400 words or less.

My colleague Rachna Jain includes an audio version of her blog posts with the written content and reports longer retention and an increase in page views on her blog.

That got me thinking. I find I am skimming more, reading less, watching more video and listening to more content on my ipod. How about you? Here's a quick unscientific poll to find out what your current preference is for consuming online content. Would also love to get your thoughts about this question in the comments. And please share this poll with your audience as I'd love to get a broad and diverse response to find out how things are trending. Please click the retweet button. Thanks!

Comments

[EuroPanache - WorldPanache]

What I discovered is simple, a good dressing recipe for this Blog-Salad depends on the final audience. Some like add sal others pepper...
Dario

[J. Michael Thurman]

Denise,

Thanks for this poll. It brings up a topic about which I've been thinking. As I read blogs that insist that video blogging is the next greatest innovation, I find myself repeatedly disagreeing.

I had credited my preference for reading to the fact that I a) like reading and b)can read text posts faster than I can watch a video. I find that I have an enduring preference for text and often read blog posts using RSS readers or my phone.

Michael

[Arian Ward]

I like choices in format, so I can decide the best way to take in the content.

1) I very quickly skim the text to decide if I'm interested at all

2) If interested, I read more of the text. If it's poorly written or poorly organized, I usually skip it and move on, unless I'm interested enough in the subject to want to spend the time deciphering it.

It was already mentioned that it should be organized for easy skimming. I agree with that, but it's only part of good formatting. The content should be organized in the best way to convey the intended message. If I'm interested enough to read all the text, I'm interested in getting to its real essence.

Good writing and formatting are esssential to getting across the intended message. Terrible grammar and spelling really turn me off because it puts the burden on the reader to decipher the author's mess. The message conveyed to me becomes that the author is ignorant, rude, and/or lazy (unless it's clear to me that the author is writing in English as a second language).

3) I will often open interesting looking links in a new tab while still going through the text. I like to multi-task, so I frequently will go from one tab to the next, reading the parts of each that interest me and are most relevant to the subject, and piecing them together in my mind into a bigger picture of the subject. I am primarily a holistic, conceptual thinker, so I like to take in a lot of information and then synthesize it into my own interpretation of the essence or big picture of everything presented about the subject.

4) If the subject matter seems to warrant a visual presentation, I watch the accompanying video. But like others have said, this takes quite a bit of time, so the subject matter really needs to be both engaging and something that benefits from video. If it's simply the author giving a talking heads presentation of the same material in the text, I'm not interested and stop the video immediately. The video needs to supplement the text, not replace it. I really dislike video only, because just like TV news vs newspaper or web news, you only get the highlights.

I may watch the video before following the links if the subject really engages me and I want to see some visuals.

5) I rarely like or listen to pure audio. I can read much faster and with more comprehension than anyone can speak. Only time it would be useful is if it supplements the text and contains something only audio can convey, like: non-vocal sounds; strong emotions, motivation, or inspiration; a highly interactive dialogue; or music to serve as a "mood setter" while reading - but it needs to be good, appropriate, and background or it works in reverse as a turn-off .

6) There is one medium you didn't include in your list of choices and that's images. I love interesting, amusing, or highly informative images to supplement the text (photography is one of my main hobbies). Images should be used instead of video when possible, because you can take them in while reading the text without having to take the time to watch a whole video.

Graphs or charts are very useful in conveying detailed, complex material. Of course, they need to link to a larger version of the graphic.

The old axiom still holds on the web, "a picture is worth a thousand words" (or 400 words in a blog :) In fact, I'm one of those people who tends to look at the pictures first before reading the text. They often tell me much more quickly than even skimming whether or not I want to continue further with this blog or article.

[Terrance Charles]

Wow, that's a interesting fact. I am for "Text" all the way but I thought video would be #1 in this poll. I usually don't read all text, I just skim the most important parts. I think I will adjust my writing style more for skimmers and cut out longer paragraphs through my blog, intesting poll Denise, thanks for sharing.

[Denise Wakeman]

Thanks for your comment, Michael. I'm not sure video blogging is the next greatest innovation, but I do think it's important to throw into the mix. Video does create more intimate engagement much more quickly.

I think the key for video blogging is keeping the videos short and to the point.

[Denise Wakeman]

Hi Arian, thanks for your thoughtful comment.

I agree that images can dramatically help tell a story. However, I feel they augment other types of content unless the content is a photo essay.

[Lou Bortone]

I don't think video will ever fully replace text, just as TV did not "replace" radio. It's just another (powerful) medium that should be integrated into your overall marketing efforts.

Lou Bortone
http://www.OnlineVideoBranding.com

[J. Michael Thurman]

TypePad HTML EmailYes! Short, compelling videos are engaging and create a powerul connection.

I think I've been exposed to too many videos that were posted for the sheer novelty of the medium.

Excuse the typos. Sent from my Blackjack II.

[LisaMarie Dias]

Thank you for doing the poll - the results and feedback are really helpful!

For a while there, I was enjoying the novelty of video, but that has quickly passed and I am back to text as mode of choice.

I love Seth Godin's brief daily posts and agree with the others above that formatting helps. A dense page of text is a definite turn off.

I do still like short, helpful videos (Mari Smith does this well)and plan to offer these on my website soon.

[Chris Brown]

Denise:
I picked text, but I must say, I have listed to many of your "Blogging and Beyond" from the Blog Squad podcasts on my ipod and almost picked that one. Most blogs don't offer podcasts of the material. Those podcasts are extremely helpful because of the voice inflections. When I skim, I miss alot!

Thanks for all your hard work Denise.
You are a real inspiration!
Plus thanks for thinking of your 50th b'day gift - KIVA. I love that!
Chris