Earlier in March, Bryan Alexander decided to document the early transition from winter to spring in Vermont. Usually for the Green Mountain State, March brings a host of blizzards and freezing whether, but this year it has been surprisingly temperate. In his article, he uses two different forms of documentation: a YouTube video and what can only be described as a semi-interactive slideshow on cowbird. If you’re interested, go ahead and click on those links to get an idea of what I’m talking about.
(Photo Taken From http://cowbird.com/story/128806/Uncanny_Spring/)
Very simply put, I like the cowbird version better. This isn’t necessarily because I enjoy it, I just find YouTube videos to be an unprofessional format. I’m always reminded of some adolescent discovering how to use iMovie and feeling the compelling desire to share his work with the world. (No offense to adolescents, live your dreams kids) While the video itself is fine, I can’t get that image out of my head. It’s also possibly because I’ve used iMovie before, and I could tell what video editing tools Alexander was using. This may make my opinion biased, but I think that bias is shared my a large number of people, so I’ll let it stand.
Not surprisingly, the reasons I liked Alexander’s use of cowbird were for the opposite reasons that I disliked his YouTube video; it was a new format for me that seemed much more professional. Additionally, the page was interactive, which made me more mindful of the information I was receiving. I tend to disengage, at least partially, when I cannot have an active role in what I’m learning or looking at.
Overall, both mediums conveyed almost the same exact information, but I would be more inclined to watch Alexander’s work on cowbird than I would on YouTube.
For perspective, a comment posted on Bryan Alexander’s article by a user named “CogDog” had quite a different opinion than me. Here’s an exerpt:
“In Cowbird, the audio and text are the same, and to me, a tad redundant, whereas in video, the audio is the narration. In Cowbird the audio is not synchronized at all with the visuals/text, so it either allows for the free roaming, but also for others might be discordant.”
This is an entirely valid claim, but it doesn’t change my opinion, I think because I prefer the “free roaming” capability that CogDog is mentioning. For others, I understand how it could come off as redundant.
What do you think?
Patrick Salisbury 
I think your point about preferring the “free roaming” affordances of Cowbird suggests that you find YouTube to be a more limiting medium for the viewer, which is an unconventional take, perhaps the next wave or maybe a schism within media consumers. I’m not sure I completely follow your point about teens and YouTube; I’ve seen some very professional YouTube videos. Overall, delighted to see you as a composer begin to more fully use the affordances of WordPress itself.
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