Vlogging has been gradually gaining a greater audience in Indonesia in 2016.

A vlog, which is a short for video blog, is simply a blog, but in a video format. For visual kinds of people, video is surely more understandable and enjoyable as it contains a story built on experiences and lessons that the creator has received from life.

Vlogs are shot by any form of video camera, from a DSLR, mirrorless, pocket camera to a smartphone.

The vlog can be edited either on a computer or a smartphone. It will later be published on social video sharing sites like YouTube, Vidio and Vimeo.

There are a lot of methods and objectives in creating a vlog, and they vary with each vlogger.

The reason 2016 has become the year for vlogging is simply because of infrastructure.

Although not yet comparable to more sophisticated countries, Indonesia arguably has faster and more affordable internet connections. 4G LTE and free wi-fi can be found almost everywhere as well as devices that support viewing videos. The trend of buying a smartphone with bigger screen sizes has also increased.

Below are some of the dos and don’ts of vlogging.

Dos:

Tell a story

A vlog needs to tell a story. Content here is king. It does not matter what tools we use, it’s more about the story we tell.

We experience new things everyday. If you don’t think so, then you are missing out. Look at the details, there are no two exactly same days in our lives.

Embrace the experience, share the story.

Keep it short and simple

Tell a maximum of one main story and a probably one side story per vlog. Deliver them in a way that is not

- how do we put this politely? - boring.

Too many stories will confuse your audience, while dragging one story out too long can do that, too.

Keep your vlog under 10 minutes. I keep mine under seven.

Eye of the beholder

Share about you, and your point of view. Don’t spend too long pointing the camera at yourself. It’s not a slog -- a selfie vlog, after all.

Remember that a vlog is about you and what you see, hear and experience.

Think ahead

Keep this in mind -- It’s for a keepsake. You want to look at those vlogs you made tomorrow, next year, five years to come, 20 years and so on.

Be sure to share things that are important and memorable so that you, and probably your descendants, can enjoy them in the future.

Follow well known vloggers

Off the top my head: Casey Neistat, Phillip Defranco, Ben Brown, Fun for Louie, Roman Atwood and Chris Pirillo.

Get inspired about how to properly tell a story since, after all, it’s all about story-telling.

Ask for permission to shoot

Not every public place in Indonesia allows you to take videos. They like to take their privacy seriously. So, ask.

Be honest

Nobody is perfect. Stop showing off by only talking about what’s good about your life all the time. Be honest, tell the truth, tell viewers what hurts you, what makes you imperfect.

It’s okay to show vulnerability once in a while, but don’t get so carried away that you end up spreading negativity.

Don’ts:

Do not worry too much about the tools

Shoot and edit from your smartphone -- it’s completely doable. Almost every phone now has a camera that can record videos.

There are several free versions of editing software out there available to download. Powerful tools are not mandatory, don’t make it an obstacle.

Don’t worry about the cast

A vlog is about you -- a story can be interesting even if it’s just you in it. There’s no need to drag someone in just to get better content.

Don’t overdo the editing

Vlogs are meant to be honest with as minimum editing as possible. The content should be more powerful than your editing skills, or you miss the point.

No need for 4K, yet

As much as it’s tempting to show off your tools and abilities, having a 4K resolution for a vlog is a waste of time and effort. Remember the quality, speed and quota of the internet connection that you and your viewer have. Both ways.

On top of that, the screens on almost 95 percent of the smartphones out there are not 4K yet.

Don’t pirate audio

When putting in background music, make sure that the music is free to use, or free as long as you credit it.

The last thing you need is, after all the edits, that YouTube asks you to take down your video due to piracy.

Be careful about bad mouthing another individual or even brands

Avoid sensitive subjects like SARA -- the acronym from suku (ethnicity), agama (religion), ras (race) and antargolongan (intergroup relations).

Do not intentionally hurt anyone. Again, the vlog is meant as a keepsake. Imagine yourself seeing the vlog five years from now and regretting it.

*

Vlogging should make you feel better, especially when you look back at your old vlogs. When you see them and watch the more recent ones, what you need to find is improvement.

A vlog helps you become a better storyteller, besides being a better cameraman and editor of course. The ability to share a story is not something to be taken for granted. From story telling to presenting, public speaking, until you find yourself, your passion. You never know what good can come from vlogging.

Mention @sheggario on Twitter when you read this and start your own vlog. Let me know.

Happy vlogging!

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Ario Pratomo captures moments and immortalizes them digitally. YouTube, IG, SoundCloud, Twitter, ask.fm: @sheggario http://linkedin.com/in/ariopratomo

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