snowmaggedon strikes

Sorry that this post is late, but my power was out for about 24 hours. My fingers have feeling back in them now, and I am quite pleased with the progress.

But anyway, this post is supposed to be about communicating effectively. I can't think of a better internet example for communicating effectively to a wide audience than the vlogbrothers. But something tells me I need to defend this a bit before I post it.

So, yes, these are both educated guys with a habit of reading consistently and inspiring teens to read as well. These are also guys who are dedicated to creating awareness among teens of looking outside their own world, to help raise money for those in different countries/cities/states. These guys do all this in a couple videos a week, keeping each video under four minutes.

The time constraint is one that I find particularly appealing. It sounds like a lot of time, four minutes, to talk about one topic. But with the way that our minds splinter and reorganize thoughts, it actually requires scripting, editing, and focus. Other vloggers that have come after them, made videos in their likeness, have also learned to create videos in this small amount of time. Basically, they have created a focus for their followers to, ah, follow.

The group they have created, Nerd Fighters, has its own set of language and ideals (decreasing "world suck" and acronyms like DFTBA), and its own way of communicating. The brothers encourage intelligent discussion the comments of their videos and have set up a website where the Nerd Fighters do this independently of them.

Every once in a while, the brothers will have a "Question Tuesday" where they answer specific questions that Nerd Fighters pose. Often these pertain to writing, revisions, and (of course) relationship advice. They make educational videos on things like probability, physics, biology (and in song), history (and specifics, like the French Revolution), and literature (and in song). They try to make big issues, like the conflict in Egypt and the healthcare debate, more understandable for teens.

They are, in short, using a medium that teenagers are comfortable with, i.e. the Internet, and making it something that can help change their world for the better. It probably helps that they have created such strong communication among the group; for teens especially, it is a big deal to find out that you are not alone.

Without further ado, here is Hank Green, eco-critic and vlogbrother, with a video about the new Webb telescope.

And here is the other vlogbrother, John Green, a young adult author, with a video about narrative complexity and the social aspect of writing.