Wednesday, April 4, 2007
A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words
Pictures can be worth a thousand words, and they can also prime users for good content. Since blogging is rapidly becoming one of the hottest mediums for electronic communication, visual images can help authors capture a reader’s attention, especially when a reader does not have the time or desire to read each blog entry. I think visual images often convey the sensory information that visual learners tend get in face-to-face environments. For years, editors of newspaper and magazine articles have been including images in conjunction with headlines to attract and sustain readers’ attention. However, a writer’s main goal is to have readers digest the content of his/her article, and it is never his/her goal to have readers become mesmerized by an image. Efficient bloggers understand that appetizers (images) are a small part of the entire meal (blog entry), and it is the main course (content) that sustains people until the next meal (blog entry).
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4 comments:
That's a great point about the effective use of images as "appetizers." I would assume effective bloggers recognize that their medium is no longer a novelty, and they are now "competing" against other bloggers for attention (as opposed to another medium). I love the meal analogy.
Jake
I also love the meal analogy. Use of graphics can serve as a great apetizer or as a big turnoff. There are so many great images that can enhance any blog, website or handout.
I like the meal analogy as well, but I do think that we need to be careful not to lump all blogs together. While our blog here is primarily textual, that is not the norm in other blogging communities. There are places where the photos are not just part of the appeal, but are in-fact, ways for the blogger to share their content or may be that day's primary content.
Even though I am hard pressed to come up with an example, I think an image within certain blogs can be more than an appetizer. Let's be honest: images, art, video, t.v., and movies are often the content that many people desire. Blogs often reflect this need. Text and content is important, but within certain contexts.
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