Mark Lee: tax, technology and Twitter?

I would like to know what is wrong with writing articles nowadays. Why do people have to post videos? If the guy said something worth hearing, write it down!

Nothing wrong with articles. Equally not everyone prefers written communication. Some prefer visual.

 

I write articles for third party publications and also for my blogs click on Mark Lee  link above for my blog for ambitious accountants. Also tax commentary on taxbuzz blog. And my views on twitter appear in a written article on IT Counts.

@xxx - I've no idea who you are because you are hiding behind anonymity.

As to your point - we are now living in an age of multi-media where voice and video have important parts to plat. My view is that by adding in video, we get to see the 'man behind the words' in a way that adds nuance and value to the things he write. I think that's called progress?

Video gives a great way to "put a face to the name" and bring the presenter to life in a way that written words can't.

Think of a live presentation.  Is a seminar with a lively presenter who cracks jokes and enjoys his/her subject not much more memorable and interesting than a similar seminar with a presenter who just reads the slides?

Video vs written articles is a bit like that I think.

M

 

I clicked to this item from Twitter hoping for an interesting read - even though there was a warning about having to wait two minutes for a point to be made. Having arrived I took one look at the still image I decided I wouldn't listen after all. If there had been an article at least I could have skipped to the interesting bits. In a video you have to listen to the whole lot! I've enjoyed reading the comments though.

@ dennis Dennis - why are you always so rude and agressive when responding to people? Just because someone has a different point of view to you doesn't mean you have to stomp on them and chase them away from the site. Looking at the amount of comments on here, I'd imagine you need users not need to push them away! I agree with both xxx and Emily, btw. Most sites that use video in this way normally show the video with the relevant text under it to appease both points of view. Why not just do that? Also, why can't people use this site anonymously? Isn't that part of what the internet's about? *Climbs off soapbox* :)

For Cathy: Here's a link to the piece I wrote on IT counts about why I don't think that accountants in practice need to both with twitter.

NB: I'm not saying that accountants can't benefit from it. I'm not saying it's a waste of time. Far from it. And I may yet develop some aids to assist accountants who want to experiment and test the water - and so get maximum benefit. But I don't expect my basic premise to change - albeit I use twitter to great effect and know many others who do too.  And as I say in the video above - I'd be delighted to be proved wrong on this.

As for those who see media refs to the nonsense spouted by many people on twitter and the celebrity twitter stuff - it's easy to avoid all that. I do. I follow hundreds of people on twitter and can't recall the last time i saw ref to what someone had for lunch! If you don't like what people are tweeting - simply unfollow them. And don't follow strangers in the first place if you're that worried.

@cathy - the point about seeing the whole is well made. That's one of the disadvantages compared with skimming text. That's one reason I try to keep videos down to 5-6 mins. What's interesting - at least to me - is that those who do view video seem to get a lot more from that medium. Isn't part of the 'charm' that you get to be (hopefully) surprised?

@accdave - this site allows anonymous comments (I don't on my personal weblog) but it is very difficult to understand the context when there is nowhere to click. Does this person have an issue? Is it an opinion based on a previously advanced argument from which I can make sense of what's being said? Or is it a generalized rant I can choose to ignore?

More generally, Mark and I have a genuine difference of opinion on the Twitter topic. As with all things that are 'new' - no-one's particularly right or wrong. I would for instance argue that running the Cover-It-Live budget 'stuff' that was coming via Twitter helped discover sources I would otherwise have missed but which are incredibly valuable: such as the commentary coming from BDO/KPMG. Even though I accept there was an incredible amount of 'noise' in the background. But then progress is rarely painless.

I have to agree with Cathy, and equally important is that if you can't skim read to pick out the key content, then neither can most search engines. If you post video or audio, which can definitely add value when used in the right way, then you should always add a transcript or at least a precis to help the search engines point the auidence in your direction, and also help those using assistive technology.

@rob - I commonly see timed one liners for audio and some video services allow you to add comment at different time intervals but rarely see transcripts. The only time I see transcripts are for earnings calls coming out of the US. The point however is well taken.

Two and a half years on and I've just followed an old link that brought me back here. I watched the video again and am struck by how little my views have changed in the last 2 years.