posted by: Christian

Alright….Team WellcomeMat has seen the word “video” tossed around at will for too long. Time to set the record straight. Slide shows are not video. Zoom in, zoom out, fade in, fade out….do whatever you wish with a photo, but it just isn’t video. We started a discussion today in The Neighborhood because we have been seeing quite a few slide shows getting uploaded to the site. While we don’t necessarily like this (we are a video site after all), we are going to roll with the punches. In our minds, it’s better to help people to use video then to shun people away from WellcomeMat whom aren’t.

How do you know if you are looking at a video? The litmus tests for a video are really quite easy: can you see movement within the image frame (a tree blowing in the wind for example)? Is a real person giving you a tour of a property/place? Is the position of the camera changing as time goes on (is the shooter and camera moving towards a doorway and then turning back towards the entrance for example)? If your answer is yes to any of these, you are looking at a video.

Why should we care? We should care for one very good reason: videos are better than photos! With video, you can offer the closest thing to a real life walk through on the web. Video, unlike any other medium, tells a story. If you have someone in front of the camera telling that story, even better! More importantly, video sells! If this weren’t true, how would QVC, HSN and infomercials have made it? Do you see products being sold on television using slide shows?

We have heard slide shows defended because “houses don’t move,” and therefore an image can do much justice. The truth is that houses don’t move (yes…I am bright enough not to argue this one). However, people do move: how does one see the true connections between each room in a place without viewing a video? Answer…in person. If you are using slide shows to market properties, that’s great! Truth be told, pictures are a great way to market properties. Video is better and they are not the same.

Popularity: 15% [?]