Facebook’s Decline
Somehow between giving lessons and doing everything else this week, I did some research into podcasts. And MAN are they really exploding. Oddly enough FB usage is declining slightly and podcast usage is growing. Check out this graph from The Infinite Dial 2019 report.
Facebook is on the decline for sure. Not to mention the $5 Billion dollar FTC Settlement they just forked over. Obviously they aren’t going anywhere. But it does make a little more room for other media outlets to grow. Like Podcasts.
Audio listening in general has been on the rise for quite some time and podcasts are a big part of that. Check out this graph from the same report.
Here’s my theory on that. Tell me what you think.
I think people are just getting tired of being swamped by videos and being fed images. There really is no engagement with the presenter other than looking at a screen and taking in what they feed.
Podcasts, regardless of the format require the listener to brush the dust off a highly neglected tool – Imagination.
When you listen to audio only you are forced to engage your imagination and recreate in your mind the images the speaker is speaking. It requires actual participation. I think people want to participate more than they want to just inflow the images. – whether they know it or not.
Plus, I think podcasts are easier to access. Think about it. You can listen and multitask much better than you can watch and multitask. Take driving for example…. Need I say more?
But also, the gym, walking, running, bike riding, and going to sleep at night. I’m sure you are familiar with he effects of the screen on sleep. If not, short answer…it’s not helpful.
But there is no looking at a screen when listening. Just sound and imagination. And then hopefully sleep.
In addition to that, the relatively low cost of getting involved in the arena is pretty appealing. Depending on the quality you want to deliver, you can practically podcast with your mobile phone and an app! Although serious podcaster’s don’t recommend it.
With that said, you probably don’t know this but I also am a fiction writer and voice actor. The ability to apply the 5th Element of Singing – Shaping and it application to accents has helped tremendously with that.
So I am going to test the waters for a while and start a fiction podcast through my eLearning/Podcast production company Tone 6.0 Productions. It’s going to be multi-serial. In other words, there will be multiple recurring plots and characters over different episodes. Kind of like combining different story lines on the same channel.
I’ll be sure to let you know about that when it’s launched. And I’ll keep you posted on the results!
Happy Singing
Michael
