Podcasting vs blogging - the importance of medium
I just stumbled across an interesting podcast from BusinessWeek - "The Blog Elite" wherein they interview leading bloggers and podcasters with a business bent. The first of these interviews was with Leo Laporte, a radio veteran who went to podcasting and started one of the most popular podcasts around - This Week in Tech.
He made a number of thought-provoking comments but what I found most intriguing is that he pointed out some differences between podcasting and blogging. Podcasting is not just blogging in sound instead of text. It is consumed differently (it can be listened to while doing other tasks so it doesn’t require your whole attention) and, he argues, while blogs are about the content, podcasts are to a much greater extent about the personality of the creators because what comes across in the voice is of greater importance. I realised that in my case it is certainly true - I listen to his radio show not so much because of what I learn there about technology but because (when it gels) I enjoy the laid-back, friendly back and forth between the participants as they talk about the tech news.
He also made some interesting (and to me worrying) comments about how because podcasts are a ‘grassroots’ medium they are seen as more authentic and that advertisers can exploit this authenticity to sell their products. Thankfully his personal view is that most podcasters will never make significant money at it so they shouldn’t try - they should instead do it for the love of it and to express and share whatever it is they wish to express.